


Brother, My Brother

by HJashin



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alpha Males, Jealousy, M/M, Neji is a saint, Obsession, Obsessive Behavior, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Sex, Stalking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:29:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 81,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29103336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HJashin/pseuds/HJashin
Summary: Itachi doesn't believe that anyone is good enough for Sasuke, not even himself. So when Neji swoops in to disrupt their lives, Itachi has a choice to make: remain passive or fight for the one he loves. ItaSasu NejiSasu
Relationships: Hyuuga Neji & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 9
Kudos: 29





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
> 
> Author's Note: I actually began this story on December 26, 2013; and it has been posted on Fanfiction up until now. You do NOT have the right to copy, translate, or reproduce my work in any print, electronic, or any other capacity.
> 
> Welcome to my most prized piece of work. I hope it makes your heart stutter.
> 
> Story by: Hell Jashin

Sasuke Uchiha grinned at the blonde bartender who slid a bottle of beer that he had requested across the counter. It fitted perfectly into his extended palm, open and icy cold. Ignoring the onyx eyes that were staring disapprovingly at him from across the club, Sasuke took three big gulps from his bottle and saluted to the smirking bartender who moved away to serve another customer.

The man behind the counter hadn’t asked for anything, neither conversation nor ID, and Sasuke appreciated the gesture. Distant, yet indulging. He liked it.

Five more gulps and the bottle was drained, leaving a tickling sensation in his throat as he set the bottle down.

“Can I get another?” he asked, gesturing at the man. He was quickly awarded a new one, and this time the seventeen-year-old slid him a twenty. “Keep the change.”

The man smirked once more and pocketed the bill. “How kind of you.”

Sasuke raised his bottle in acknowledgment and once again was left on his own to brood while his brother played nice with his friends. And yet, even so, he had glanced over at Sasuke more than once already, the second time happened seconds ago when he had received another bottle. Jesus, when was Itachi going to come to the realization that leaving him home alone for a few hours wouldn’t cause the world to end? As opposed to bringing him along every time he wanted to go out with friends, the safety of their home should have been his brother’s primary choice.

And now, here he was at a club two hours past his bedtime. Sasuke hid a yawn behind his drink and finally set it down. He was going to swirl around in his stool and pass the time by observing the heavy crowd that was expected on any given Friday night, but someone leaned against the counter next to him, which blocked his ability to swivel.

“Can I buy you a drink?” a deep, masculine voice asked.

Although Sasuke hadn’t looked in his direction, he knew he was being stared at. “I’m not old enough,” he said over the music.

“And yet you’re here,” the voice commented with a hint of amusement, referring to the “21 and over” rule.

Sasuke spared the man a glance, disinterest leaving his countenance as he looked the guy up and down, taking in the long, dark hair and pretty, milky-white eyes. A small smirk slid over his face and he nodded to refer to the man’s overall demeanor. “What are you, the police?” he jested, making a show of downing half of his bottle as a bold, gesticular motion as if daring the man to say more. 

The smirk was returned with one mirroring it and an outstretched hand. “Neji, Neji Hyuuga,” he introduced.

Normally, shaking hands wasn’t something that the Uchiha had done. On his opponent’s part, it was usually an excuse to touch him or make him uncomfortable. Nevertheless, Sasuke wasn’t so against shaking Neji’s hand.

“Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha,” he mimicked.

The grip was firm, yet not overpoweringly so. Neji’s hand was quite large, but they were also warm and delivered a good shake. The Hyuuga also released Sasuke’s hand, never lingering or surpassing the commonly held three-second business handshake. He then gestured to the bartender who approached with a bottle of tequila, a plate of lime wedges, and two shot glasses.

The man looked between the two and seemed to pour the drinks at an angle that hid his face, but Sasuke noticed his lips tugging upward in what seemed to be the partaking of a silent joke.

He raised an eyebrow at the choice of liquor, taking note of the fact that the Neji didn’t have to place his order in order for the preferable one to be served. “Didn’t peg you for the hard liquor type,” he commented, aware that Itachi was now glaring holes into his companion’s being.

“Didn’t peg you to be a beer person” was the retort, “unless you wanted to sulk away your worries with something cheap and not suffer a financial crisis after.”

At that, Sasuke smirked. “Touché.”

Their glasses clinked, and Neji and Sasuke downed their glasses and sucked on a lime wedge.

“So, are you here alone?”

The Uchiha shrugged as Neji made himself comfortable in the seat next to him. “In all technicality, no, I’m not. But, according to social bonds and relationships, yes.”

“Interesting,” Neji uttered at the unexpected response. Most people would have simply gone for a one-word reply, but Sasuke didn’t seem to fit the “most people” category. “Do go on.”

“I can say I get approached quite often, one of the reasons I’m not alone most of the time.”

“You don’t appreciate being approached?” asked the brunette.

“It’s quite the flattery,” Sasuke conceded, taking a swig of his beer as Neji asked for the tequila bottle to be left at the counter, “but not when half of them are old enough to be my parents.” He set his beer down and reached for the glass, said his cheers, and gulped it down. Neji followed suit with a smirk. “Your approach, on the other hand,” Sasuke narrated with a playful glint in his eyes, “does wonders to my ego.”

For such a comment, Neji eyes lit up and he had to laugh. The flattery went both ways: the boy, himself, was the most beautiful being that Neji had laid eyes on.

“So if not technically alone, who are you here with?” he asked, taking note of the way the boy’s face scrunched as if he tasted something particularly unpleasant.

The boy turned at a ninety degree angle, only enough to nod across the dance floor where a group of college students crowded together in a booth. “See that black-haired guy that looks all worked up, wearing the maroon button-up?”

Neji glanced in said direction and noticed a man glaring daggers at him as if he wished his scowl could set him on fire. It seemed overly protective, but Neji couldn’t be sure. A look akin to sympathy of sorts passed his face as if he understood his pains. “Ex-boyfriend?” he asked.

“Brother,” was the matter-of-fact, monotonic reply.

“Ahh,” the Hyuuga muttered as they turned to face away from the older Uchiha. He refilled the two glasses and held one out to Sasuke. “To overprotective, older brothers,” he said, and Sasuke reached for the glass.

“Ditto.”

-H.J.-

“Oooh, sexy guy at twelve o’clock!” gushed Deidara in excitement.

Itachi Uchiha looked up abruptly from his highball. His sudden action wasn’t caused by his interest in picking up the said “sexy guy.” In fact, he had no interest in much of anything these days but his dear younger brother who had decided that he didn’t want to be followed to the bar. Not at all. His attentiveness was due to the fact that this guy could potentially be trying to get into Sasuke’s pants.

He knew very well that Sasuke’s attention tended to stray when he was bored and at one in the morning, there was nothing Itachi expected from Sasuke’s behavior more than sleepiness... or flirtation to satiate his boredom.

Taking a single glance in the boy’s direction, his fears were confirmed as Itachi’s increasingly angry, dark orbs settled on said “sexy guy.” From the distance, he would not deny that the teenager currently chatting up his brother was attractive. Perhaps, he would even concur that he was quite alluring if Itachi’s interests were not placed elsewhere. But indeed, they had been and possessiveness swelled within his chest as he continued to watch Sasuke openly accept the brunette’s companionship.

For once in his life, Itachi felt that his decision to bring Sasuke with him tonight was an erroneous one that would cause him pain and hurt if he didn’t attend to it.

Ah, but what to do? 

Although he had his indestructible pride, Itachi wasn’t so blinded by it to realize that the burning sensation in his chest was the result of jealousy coursing through him. His hand shook as he reached for his glass and gulped it down entirely, leaving behind the ice that clinked heavily against the glass.

Itachi narrowed his eyes as gentle brushes were exchanged between the two. The elbows bumping as the shot glasses thudded against the counter could have been dismissed as casual, but the older Uchiha could read his brother like a book. He was flirting with the man. The way the young Uchiha’s fingers danced along the rim of the glass, the way his shoulders trembled as if he was silently laughing at something, and the way responded to each other’s movements proved to Itachi that they had clicked.

Hidan’s drunken laughter pierced through Itachi’s concentration, adding greatly to his anger in the process. “Better keep a good eye out for him or that gorgeous brother of yours would be doing the dirty with Mister Sex Appeal over there,” he said, his slurred words causing Itachi to momentarily break his gaze away from Sasuke to glare at the silver-haired man.

“Watch your mouth,” he hissed, eyes flashing dangerously and lips drawn in a tight line to conceal his gritted teeth. He didn’t like the sound of such asinine comments. It made him feel inadequate as if he failed as a brother to love and take care of Sasuke like he should have.

To make matters worse, when he turned around to settle a watchful eye on Sasuke again, the boy and the brunette were gone.

-H.J.-

“Fuck,” groaned Sasuke as his body made contact with the wall in a dim hallway adjacent to the bathroom. They had left the main room as quickly as two bunny rabbits ready and eager to hump each other out. And the decision had not been a foul one, judging by the way Neji slammed his hands against the wall immediately, entrapping Sasuke’s head in between the two barriers as devoured Sasuke’s mouth with his tongue and lips.

The young Uchiha pushed back with the same intensity, shoving his tongue into Neji’s mouth and caressing every inch of the other man’s cavern. He made sure nowhere was left unexplored, and the Hyuuga made that quite easy for Sasuke because he tasted addicting, like vanilla, despite the traces of tequila on his breath.

His tongue didn’t stay in Neji’s mouth for long. The older boy slammed his body against Sasuke’s arching one, shoving his body against the wall earning Neji a loud gasp. He took the chance to push the boy’s tongue out of his mouth and back into his own. Their tongues danced in the Uchiha’s mouth briefly before Neji broke the kiss.

Sasuke shivered as Neji began to trail hot kisses down the length of his neck. Anticipation racked his mind and body as he tilted his head to allow more access to the teasing sucks. The kisses trailed down his neck for a few seconds before the brunette’s mouth moved to his earlobe to give it a nip.

“Think you’re so slick, baby?” Neji whispered hoarsely against his ear, referring to Sasuke’s momentary dominance in their shared makeout session. The brunette didn’t allow sufficient time for Sasuke to respond because he resealed his lips over the Uchiha’s and, quite easily according to the ravenette, stole his breath away. 

Sasuke moaned into the kiss, and his hands began to creep up the other man’s shirt inch by inch. Another groan escaped his lips when his wandering fingers made contact with chiseled, hard abs and the ravenette couldn’t help but trace them with his hands repeatedly.

The brunette noticed this little fact. He pulled away from the kiss and watched with hungry, yet amused eyes as Sasuke’s fingers danced up and down the length of his torso. 

“Found something you like, baby?” he asked, smirking when the boy licked his lips at the question.

“God, yes,” Sasuke moaned in response. His fingers finally stopped playing when he realized lips were no longer on him, and the Uchiha wove his hands under the pits of the brunette’s arms and raked his dull nails down the man’s back. “Now kiss me,” he demanded, eager to feel those talented lips on his own.

The amusement slipped off of Neji’s face, darkening his features intensely. Both of his hands dropped heavily onto the younger boy’s shoulders before they began to trail down the length of his torso and the dip near his hips. Neji’s hands smoothly slid down the curve of Sasuke’s back before they squeezed the Uchiha’s ass forcefully.

“So impatient, Sasuke,” he growled, but nevertheless he dove forward and painted those beautiful lips red. 

The kiss was as hard as it was passionate, completely riveting to Sasuke. He loved feeling ravished. It consumed him with a greater desire to tear through the man’s clothes and suck him dry. 

Sasuke moaned under the ministrations. His lips were being greedily devoured; his ass was being kneaded by skillful hands; and his pelvis was being crushed against another, beginning a slow, sensual gyration.

It felt so good. Everything felt so good. He loved the way Neji said his name in such a low, breathy growl. He loved the way the man called him “baby”; the word brought out his desperately carnal side and every time it was uttered, he felt hot like molten lava.

“You taste so fucking good,” he had heard amidst his loud moans and the sweet pleasure traveling down his body and pooling at the base of his manhood.

Sasuke craned his neck as the kisses began to trail down his face to his neck. He didn’t even think about the consequences of his brother flipping out when Neji began to suck hard at the juncture between his neck and collarbone. 

With his neck being sucked and hips bucking against the hard, clothed cock, Sasuke’s nails couldn’t resist scraping down Neji’s back. The man hissed against his neck and triumph gleamed underneath the lids of Sasuke’s eyes because he knew that either welts were beginning to form or his nails drew blood.

It was expected of him though. The young Uchiha was extremely sensitive when it came his neck. “Sensitive”, in his case, was tantamount to lustful. He loved it when his neck sucked, but had no control over most of his actions in the few rare moments someone did pay special attention to it.

“M-more,” he gasped, but the Hyuuga had already withdrawn from his neck and was now looking at him with the most arousing look that Sasuke had ever seen.

“I’d give it to you all, baby,” Neji purred, “but right now, I want you in my mouth.”

That had been the only warning that Sasuke had before his jeans were unbuttoned and yanked down to his thighs along with his briefs. The brunette had crouched down to his knees, hands leaving Sasuke’s ass to push against the Uchiha’s hips as his mouth moved forward and fully engulfed Sasuke’s length into his mouth.

“F-fuck,” Sasuke groaned, as his hands turned into fists and smashed themselves backward into the wall behind him. Neji’s mouth was a combination of heat and wetness that fully enraptured the Uchiha. His tongue played with the underside of his manhood, taking long, swift strokes as he added the suction that had been administered to Sasuke’s neck.

Half-hooded onyx eyes watched as Neji’s mouth moved skillfully up and down his dick, alternating between deep sucks and long licks. Before Sasuke knew what he was doing, he reached both hands forward and entangled them into the man’s hair, kneading and tugging-- doing anything in his power to stave off his need to drag the man into a room, strip him naked, and get fucked.

He tried to buck forward, to feel the man’s warm breath at the base of his cock, but the brunette’s hands prevented him from doing so. Sasuke writhed against the wall, fingers ceaselessly massaging into the man’s hair. He knew he wouldn’t last long, and he knew that Neji knew.

“Like that!” the ravenette moaned when the brunette moved to suck at the head of his cock. One of Neji’s hand had left Sasuke’s hip and reached to cup his heavy balls, rolling and adding a slight pressure to them every so often. “Fuck,” he moaned throatily as he threw his head back, accidentally hitting the wall behind him. 

But Sasuke was too encapsulated in his lustful world, too oblivious to everything in his surroundings besides the man in front of him that he didn’t notice hard, dark eyes belonging to a six feet tall, enraged man stomping in his direction.

In fact, Sasuke was at the point of bliss that, when his fingers tightened drastically in Neji’s silky, soft hair and he groaned a ‘I’m cumming’, his blurry vision could only make out a well-built, long-haired man who looked like his brother headed in their direction. 

With another whimper, Sasuke couldn’t care any less about anything aside from his release. He did his best to keep his eyes open, watching as rivets of his cum splashed into Neji’s awaiting mouth. The young Uchiha licked his lips, hips bucking only lightly now as a few drops of his milky white substance dribbled down the brunette’s mouth.

The heat emanating from the man disappeared suddenly and Sasuke, still disoriented, was slow to pick up the fact that his brother had arrived at the scene of his release. 

Things happened so quickly that it was just a blur to Sasuke’s still half-lidded eyes. When he came to his senses, Sasuke watched in horror as a trembling Itachi gripped onto the back of Neji’s shirt and pulled him backwards, shoving him away from the young Uchiha and towards the ground.

Snapping out of his state, he quickly pulled up his pants, shooting an apologetic look at Hyuuga who was in his disarrayed state between anger and confusion. Sasuke noticed, however, that when Neji caught a glimpse of the “black-haired guy” who looked ready to explode, he shot the Uchiha a raised eyebrow as if to say “It’s this bad?”

Sasuke, who thought against running and making it worse, ran his hand threw his hair, a gesture that showed Neji his distress that also stated, yes, this was exactly how it was.

-H.J.-

The sight of Sasuke cumming for another man made Itachi’s blood run cold to the point that he could feel the numbness in his chest being pursued by extreme hurt.

Gripping tightly onto the neck of the man’s shirt, he jerked him backward, shoving him onto the dirty tiles.

His fists rested at his sides, knuckled up and white, but Itachi restrained himself as the repetitive image of his younger brother’s moans for another rang in his mind. 

“What’s your problem, Itachi?” growled Sasuke, and Itachi had to close his eyes briefly to abate his desire to snap.

“Shut up,” came the unbelievably cold reply. He couldn’t give a flying fuck about who saw or heard as he slammed the nonplussed younger boy against the wall, hand to throat.

“This is completely unacceptable,” he hissed barely above a whisper due to his need to control his sanity. His cold, black eyes burned a glare into Sasuke’s widened ones before, still pinning his brother against the wall, turned his neck to pin down the brunette with the same threatening look. “And you,” he spat murderously at the Hyuuga who had picked himself up and was now watching Sasuke with worried eyes, “you stay the fuck away from him.”

That was all Itachi could manage before he released Sasuke, gripped tightly onto his wrist, and tugged him out of the hall. Before they became immersed into the crowded dancefloor, Itachi glanced back once more at the man with narrowed eyes warning him to keep his distance.

But the great Neji Hyuuga, completely composed despite the situation, daringly stared back before he slowly began lifting his hand to his face He swiped the pad of his thumb at the edge of his mouth, coating it with the cum that was still there, and made a show as he lifted it up to his smirking lips, which hosted a pink tongue that came out to lick it clean off. To sell the act of challenging the older Uchiha more than he already had, he closed his eyes, allowing a facade of bliss to envelope it.

When he opened his eyes, the brothers had disappeared, but the brunette knew that the Itachi character had saw it all.

Protective, older brothers were too much, he thought to himself, but for Sasuke, he would make the exception.

-H.J.-

“Itachi! You’re hurting me,” cried the smaller ravenette.

The crisp night air blew in their faces as Itachi dragged Sasuke into the parking lot and towards the black Mercedes at the end of the lot. Despite the boy’s cries and attempt to pry his hand away, Itachi didn’t release his wrist. 

When they came to a stop, Itachi opened the passenger seat of his car and shoved Sasuke inside. “We’re leaving,” he managed to say stiffly.

Itachi got into the car next, not saying any more than he had or sparing the young Uchiha a glance, started the engine, and began the twenty-minute drive home. Along the empty, dimly lit streets, Itachi sped.

Sasuke noticed this, too. It started with the speed limit at forty-five and exponentially grew and grew until they were driving ninety in a forty zone. The silence, coupled with the speeding, something that his brother never thought to do for safety reasons, caused the young ravenette to hold his breath as he broke out in a nervous sweat.

His hand, which had been resting on his thighs, scrunched up in anxiety as he took note of the fact that Itachi didn’t seem to want to slow down anytime soon. Additionally, the mere thought of asking his big brother to slow down was more intimidating to Sasuke that the speed they were going at. 

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t think twice about asking, but until he figured out exactly what made Itachi lose his temper, he didn’t want to speak a single word. 

The young Uchiha knew that he had done something wrong, but he was at a loss as to what it was. Itachi had known about his preference of males over females as long as Sasuke had known, so the shock of him with a man was nonexistent. Furthermore, the seething man next to him acted as though Sasuke had run over his cat, which hadn’t been possible since he didn’t have a car to drive. Worse, though, he acted as though Sasuke somehow betrayed him by being with someone else, not that they had any stronger ties than their sibling relationship.

He supposed that had been the most likely scenario for Itachi’s violent behavior. This conjecture was purely based on Itachi’s recent, extremely odd behavior.

Sasuke wasn’t stupid nor was he blind. Something was different about the way Itachi coddled him within the last few years. Ever since he hit puberty at twelve years old, Itachi had kept a watchful eye on him as if he was expecting him to somehow combust and do something stupid.

They were fairly odd signs, ones that didn’t take a genius to notice. It first began with the blank stares that he received when his brother thought he wasn’t looking. Surely, he hadn’t been, but he could always feel the intensity of the older Uchiha’s stares burning into his back when he happened to run downstairs for a glass of milk or while he was cooking dinner. 

Other times, on days that Sasuke didn’t have a shred of clothing left to wear and was forced to do laundry, he would march upstairs to get his hamper only to notice that it was empty. When he checked his drawers, it was full of his neatly-folded clothing smelling distinctly of laundry detergent.

And sometimes, when Sasuke came home from school starving after running cross-country, he would find the entire bottom shelf of the fridge stocked with large, ripe tomatoes.

And yet despite all of this, despite all the sweet gestures, Itachi didn’t say much to Sasuke. He was always around, but never really acknowledged the younger boy.

All this was all between the ages of twelve and thirteen.

When fourteen hit, things got really weird.

In a household of two, they had always ate according to their own schedules, finding it easier to prepare their meals separately as their schedules didn’t match very often. It was convenient and each of them didn’t have to worry about what to make for dinner. 

But one Friday evening while Sasuke was munching on a bowl of fried rice at the kitchen counter and recounting his day’s work, thinking random thoughts, Itachi grabbed a plate, helped himself to a bowl of rice from the pan on the stove, pulled up a chair across from the boy and sat down. 

The action was so shocking to the younger ravenette that he choked on the rice that he was in the process of swallowing, making a fool out of himself as he gasped for air between coughs. When the coughing had stopped, he stared openly at his brother with curious eyes and was sure that he had caught a glimpse of a smile hidden behind the mug of green tea.

Still, neither said a word to the other and each ate their food silently. But after that fateful night, Itachi began joining him for dinner every night at six.

He supposed that hadn’t been the oddest moment.

The most peculiar action, perhaps, was when Itachi began to make Sasuke go everywhere he went as though he was afraid to let him out of his sight. When Itachi made it clear to him that he expected Sasuke to be with him whenever possible, the boy had to ask why to satiate his curiosity at such an out-of-the-blue request from the brother who had been avoiding him for quite the while.

“There are bad people out there” was the given reply. “I’d rather have you safe by my side.” This was followed by a caress to his cheek and a small smile that was the main reason Sasuke nodded. He had been in a daze by such an act, not having witnessed his big brother’s gentle smile for years.

And then, after that bizarre, short conversation, Sasuke caught on quick that his brother tended to go out a lot whether it was for a short period of time or not. Thus, every time he was in the living room and noticed his brother picking up the keys, he was up on the balls of his feet, dressed and ready to leave. That had been the reason why he wore fitting clothes rather than being shirtless and lazing around in a pair of sweats. Itachi was spontaneous, and Sasuke liked to keep up.

At one point, it had crossed Sasuke’s mind that what Itachi wanted of him was quite ridiculous. He only saw this as time passed, at the age of sixteen. It grew to the point where grocery shopping down the street was a must for Sasuke, but despite his inward musings, he didn’t outwardly object. He had always been very fond of his brother; the desire to spend all of his time possible with Itachi was a childhood wish that was being granted in his days as a teenager. He couldn’t complain.

Yet, again, in spite of everything, they rarely exchanged words.

He wanted to know what prompted his brother’s increasingly abnormal actions. After his musings, he could only surmise that Itachi was under some sort of pressure to be a better guardian ever since their parents passed away when he was twelve and Itachi had just turned eighteen.

When he had settled on the logical conclusion that his brother’s behavior was due to his inability to process the situation he had been caught in and, thus, fulfill his role as the parental person that he had been assigned to be to advise Sasuke in his rights and wrongs, he realized that the car had stopped in their driveway. Notwithstanding such, he noticed that Itachi’s hands were stilled on the wheel even though the engine was off.

“I’m sorry, Itachi,” Sasuke said sincerely, registering that he had opened his mouth only after uttering the words.

Itachi didn’t even spare him a glance nor did he give away any indication that he had heard Sasuke’s apology. If anything, it seemed to eat away at the older Uchiha more as he stepped out the car without a word and disappeared into the house, causing Sasuke to chase after him.

“Itachi, I know what this is about,” he said, chest heaving up and down as the door closed behind him. Albeit his words were not as confident as they sounded in his head, his brother’s retreating form froze upon hearing them.

The young Uchiha took a deep breath and continued. “I know it’s been hard on you to raise me ever since our parents died, and I really appreciate you putting up with me all the time despite my moods. I know that, with you being older, you have to think of every aspect of my life and choose the best one for me. I love you for that. I really do. Other siblings may complain about their older brothers and sisters, but I am grateful for your small gestures that, ultimately, make my day: like when you check up on me late at night when you think I’m asleep, or when you put money in my wallet when I’m not looking because you’re afraid I might not have any when I need it.”

Sasuke’s speech was rapid as he drained his brain of every thought he had stored away up until this moment. He was afraid that if he didn’t say them now, he’d never get a chance to talk to his brother again. “I know that you bringing me along is your way of communicating with me, but I am really alright. I’m growing up fine and the fact that you constantly believe that my personal relationships and choices in them will affect my future is understandable, but I know when to stop. And it’s just that sometimes I feel like you’re so caught up in being a guardian, in trying to do the best for me, that you forget to live your own life,” lamented the teenager. “I guess what I’m really trying to say is that I’m sorry I caused you to be so angry tonight, Aniki. I just didn’t think things through before acting and for that, I am sorry.”

Silence followed his speech and within the dark room that was only brightened by the moonlight, Sasuke couldn’t gauge a reaction from the elder Uchiha. Finally, after minutes of standing there and hoping for a response, he got one.

“You couldn’t be any more wrong, my dear Otouto,” came Itachi’s quiet words. Even though his statement said one thing, Itachi’s shoulders visibly relaxed a large degree. “I don’t ‘put up’ with you, Sasuke,” he said, slowly turning around and began taking calculating steps towards the teenager who stood in the middle of the living room.

“I watch over you, try to understand you, take care of you. I don’t get caught up in your life that I forget mine,” he whispered as his footsteps came to a halt in front of his baby brother, who stared up at him and concentrated on his words. “I don’t get caught up in your life that I forget mine because you are my life. I live for you,” Itachi confessed bringing the back of his palm to stroke lightly the boy’s cheek, afraid that he’d be tempted too much if he allowed himself more than a feathery touch.The surprise was clearly evident on Sasuke’s face, but Itachi had no shame in his confession. “How could I not?” he uttered, cold eyes melting slightly under the boy’s confused face.

“I don’t understand,” whispered Sasuke, eyes fluttering at the show of affection. When Itachi didn’t respond, he gripped onto the lingering hand, desperate to feel his brother’s touch against his skin. He didn’t want light touches; Sasuke wanted to know, to feel, Itachi’s presence, an affirmation that he wasn’t dreaming and his brother was really talking to him for once.

Itachi’s eyes followed Sasuke’s action, watching intently as the boy brought the palm of his hand to his face to cup his left cheek. “What you don’t understand, my beautiful Otouto, is that no one has the right to touch you like that, especially not someone you barely know,” he said, a flare of anger tainting his voice. “No one’s good enough for you… not even me,” the fervent statement ended in a quiet, almost inaudible whisper, but Sasuke had picked it up.

“What do you mean, Itachi? Why not even you?” he asked, hands gripping tight onto Itachi’s to keep it in place when he felt it slipping as though the older Uchiha didn’t have the heart to keep touching him. 

“I’m not good enough for you, Otouto,” Itachi replied sadly, eyes flickering away when he confessed yet again before settling back on Sasuke’s whose concern eyes proved to Itachi that he was going for the defense.

“But you’re my brother. No one is better than you,” the boy said wholeheartedly, truly believing in what he was saying.

To such words, a small smile, despite it being sad, formed at the edges of Itachi’s mouth. “If I’m the best, Sasuke, why did you choose a stranger over me?” he asked, his previous anger being replaced by the wretched question.

The younger Uchiha’s forehead scrunched in confusion once again. “I don’t understand, Itachi. You tell me that you’re not good enough, but you’re also telling me that I should have chosen you?” The statement ended as an inquiry and extracted another forlorn smile from Itachi.

“Yes,” he said simply, bringing more confusion to his younger brother.

“... Are you saying that you want me to love you differently?” he asked slowly, assessing the words as they came out and the implications that came with them.

Part of Sasuke was afraid by his own question and part of him, the part that desired such intimacy, thought it was thrilling. As he licked his lips in thought, he didn’t notice Itachi watching him carefully as he closed the distance between them till only a small gap laid between their lips.

The touch of another hand on the other side of his face startled him out of his thoughts, and Sasuke blinked as he took in his brother’s lovely features. He couldn’t remember the last time Itachi had been this close to him. The younger Uchiha didn’t pull away, fascinated by his Nii-san’s handsome face and seemingly enticing lips.

There wasn’t much else that Sasuke had considered besides Itachi’s searching eyes when he closed the distance between their lips. They didn’t clash together, hot and heavy, like Sasuke had experienced with Neji. Itachi was making it a soft kiss, as if he was testing the waters. Although being completely different from his usual encounters, Sasuke felt a spark soar its way up from the pit of his stomach, nestling itself in the cavity of Sasuke’s chest.

The boy’s hands released Itachi’s and weaved themselves around his Aniki’s neck, a gesture that deepened their kiss a great deal and knocked Sasuke’s breath away. Itachi’s kiss was gentle, loving, and quite possibly the most addicting kiss that he had ever received due to its indescribable intensity.

When they parted for oxygen, a string of saliva hung between their lips, drawing both of their attention. A small smile lingered on Sasuke’s face, but it disappeared when he noticed that Itachi had averted his eyes to anywhere but his face as if he was ashamed of himself, ashamed of what he had encouraged. His hands slipped back to his sides and Sasuke was too late to pull them back.

“Kiss me again,” he whispered as they were still in close proximity to each other. His hands tightened around Itachi’s neck desperately and his features became frantic when he felt his brother shift away.

“I can’t,” was the painful reply.

“Yes, you can,” Sasuke reaffirmed, attempting to pull Itachi close to him. His brother, however, simply pried his hands off of his body and gently settled them down.

“I’m sorry, Sasuke,” Itachi said, his countenance saddened by the mere thought of rejecting his Otouto, something that he rarely did. Turning his back onto Sasuke once again, he murmured, “I’m addicted enough as it is. Don’t tempt me, Otouto.” It sounded more like a plea than a warning to Sasuke’s delicate ears, and he felt tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

“I don’t understand…” were his final words, but the room was already empty.


	2. Part 2

A large bottle of Black Velvet. One tall shooter glass. A dark, hauntingly quiet house despite there being two occupants, brothers to be exact.

One was currently upstairs in his room, crestfallen, having left behind a sorrow-ridden, confused boy who was too young to pick up the pieces of his brutal confession. The other was downstairs, in the same place he had been abandoned in, and was the reason that the liquor cabinet was open.

He was in the living room, an odd choice of place, mind him, to be drinking at. It was large and spacious, great for company and study dates, but certainly not favorable for drinking alone. But he supposed the room epitomized how wide and open he felt as though he had been stripped of his heart and the only thing left was the questioning, hollow voice inside his head that beckoned his brain to recount everything about Itachi, to recount everything he knew about his brother up until the moment he directly spoke to Sasuke for more than a few seconds.

Sure, his brother hung around a lot, lounging here, shuffling there, but they'd never had such an open-minded, intimate conversation, which led Sasuke to his next question. Was Itachi telling the truth? Had he been so crudely honest that there was no more room for discussion?

He shook his head. No, of course not. There was always more than met the eye: more to explain, more to justify.

But since Itachi hadn't wanted to discuss any further, what of it? Was Sasuke supposed to sit back and watch what was left of the puzzle pieces scatter themselves across the board? If he had, he was sure that none would settle in their corresponding positions.

What to do? he wondered, tapping his foot and knocking back another glass. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to do.

Why so sad? a nagging voice at the back of his mind taunted.

Sasuke left the question unanswered, a mystery to both himself and his desires. He didn't know why he couldn't let it go. Since when, in his entire existence, had he ever loved Itachi in such a way? Appreciation certainly didn't amount to romantic love. At least not in all cases, he thought dryly.

But what of the spark? The jump in his chest as if someone was squeezing his heart. Had that been normal?

Another shot burned its way down his throat, and Sasuke called it quits when he felt a dark flush form on his cheeks and spread down his chest. He supposed six at home, four or so at the bar, and two bottles of beer was a reasonable limit. Setting the glass aside, he tugged his shirt over his head and uncoordinatedly threw it somewhere on the floor. Then, he unbuttoned his jeans and tossed those aside, too, leaving his boxer briefs on. Flopping down onto the sofa, the ravenette decided to crash downstairs for the night.

It's not like you could successfully make your way upstairs anyway, he thought wryly, folding his arms behind his head. Sasuke stared at the ceiling for minutes before it began to swirl in circles. He felt his eyelids grow heavy; thus, he closed his eyes and was snoozing within seconds.

-H.J.-

Itachi was beyond mortified, so mortified that it was near impossible for him to suppress the tremors raking through his body. What had he done? It was completely inappropriate to make such a move, to give in to desires that have been wounded tight and caged away. Elbows resting against his knees, Itachi collected his head in his hands in an attempt to drive off a headache.

Why had he cracked? It was uncalled for. Despite the constant catcalls in his head for his Otouto to do it, he hadn't expected the boy to close the distance between them. In all the scenarios he had compiled, from Sasuke pushing him away to everything but the kiss, the act that his brother pulled was definitely not in Itachi's bag of possibilities.

And even if it hadn't utterly been his fault, he was supposed to be the responsible one who should have denied the boy of his curiousity. Who was he to further his own conquest of sin and, by extension, silent, single-handed debauchery?

But why was it so hard to stay away? He had drilled himself with this question for hours at a time daily, and it proved irrevocably true because, as soon as light snores reached his ears, he was up on his feet. The action was purely instinctual as if his body had a mind of its own. His room was located next to the stairs, and it had hardly been a chore to hear the soft purrs.

With slow, quiet steps, Itachi descended down the flight of stairs. The first sight he caught of his younger sibling caused a rack of guilt to course through him, weighing down his heart more than he intended. He surely believed that his heart could have dropped much lower than it had if he wasn't softened by the familiar sight of that spiky, black hair and serene, baby-like face.

Why are you so beautiful? he asked silently, resisting the need to splay his fingers and touch the pale, fair skin. Despite his blatant resistance, he knew that he was delaying the inevitable. The persistent need to touch his Otouto, to confirm his existence, whether it was in the lingering brush of his hair, or the gentle caress of his hand or face, was Itachi's way of extending his affection even though in most instances the teen was asleep.

"There's no need to drown your unhappiness in alcohol, Otouto," he murmured, smiling despite himself. For one, Itachi knew he was a hypocrite for saying what he did since alcohol was his usual scapegoat. And for another, he didn't need to look at the table to know the young teen had been furthering his alcohol escapade. The clinking of Sasuke's glass against the table minutes before had been incredibly audible as he had smacked the glass down loudly after each serving as if to say, 'Come see what I'm doing. Stop ignoring me.'

But Itachi wouldn't. He couldn't. Even at the bar earlier tonight, he couldn't bring himself to pester the teen who had wandered off in hopes of ridding Itachi from his sight. And yet, perhaps unknowingly, he had chosen a spot that was directly in Itachi's view and, subsequently, subjected Itachi to a torturous night.

Despite the silent beckoning and the evasive attitude, these perfunctory, subconsciously-devised actions only proved that Sasuke was unsure of himself and of the situation Itachi had placed him in. Itachi had been dreaming of the day he would feel his longing ache being quenched by Sasuke's kiss, and when his wish had been granted, he had completely flipped, allowing his pisspoor attitude to act in his stead.

But Itachi wasn't blind. His reactions drove Sasuke to consume more alcohol than he had already had. Though the boy had been drinking at an age that rivaled his own first drink at thirteen years of age and despite Itachi wanting to believe that the bartender tonight would ask for his younger sibling's ID and proceed to deny him of alcohol, it was merely an ignorant thought that stemmed from his desire to suppress his knowledge of how desirable his Otouto was to everyone he encountered.

He knew that, if Sasuke really wanted something, he had his ways of getting it. Anyone would do anything for a pretty face, Itachi knew, and he certainly wasn't the caveat to the rule when his Otouto was the center piece. And although Itachi didn't have any control over what he did or, in particular, who he chose to exercise his powers of persuasion with, he certainly had the right to censure it as much as possible even though he hid in the shadows to do so most of the time.

'Coward,' his subconsciousness had taunted him, but Itachi would rather have been called a coward a thousand times than take away Sasuke's last string of humanity by stripping him of his societal morals and, subsequently, severing him from potential friendships and normal human contact.

Sasuke stirred in his sleep, his eyelids fluttering beautifully when Itachi caressed his cheek, but he went back to softly snoring in a matter of seconds, prompting the elder to smile. "Why must you be so beautiful, Otouto?" Itachi asked while his fingers danced along the boy's soft skin. "Why must you grow up so quickly before my eyes?" He leaned back slightly to sit at the edge of the table, but his fingers never left Sasuke's face. A solemn, defeated sigh escaped Itachi's lips. "Have you grown out of needing your big brother to coddle you? Am I no longer what you need to be happy?"

He stopped stroking the boy's face, and his hand fell to his side. He felt like a lovestruck idiot, sitting there watching his Otouto sleep and waiting for an answer he knew would not come. It was hopeless for him.

Itachi stood, placing his right hand on the edge of the sofa while he used his left to swipe the boy's bangs away from his forehead. Gently, he placed a soft, tender kiss on his Otouto's forehead. "I love you," he murmured. His lips lingered on Sasuke's forehead longer than he had intended, and with an internal curse, Itachi pulled away.

"Sweet dreams, Otouto."

-H.J.-

"Are you alright?"

Sea green eyes blinked owlishly at Sasuke, who sat with his back against the coffee table while his friend lounged in the sofa he had previously slept on. The ravenette shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. "I feel fine."

The redhead rolled his eyes and directed his attention back to the magazine he had picked up when he arrived.

It was nearly one on a Saturday afternoon. Sasuke woke up nicely around 8:30 after his drinking fest without the slightest hint of a headache and applauded himself silently for his alcohol tolerance. When he pushed himself off the davenport, he noticed a red post-it note on the coffee table. He had detached it from the surface and upon reading the elegant handwriting he had scowled.

Sasuke,

Went out with friends. Be back later.

\- Aniki

Had it been him, or did it seem as though his friends would not wake up at the crack of dawn to oblige to Itachi's wishes? Of course, had Itachi gone to the gym, Sasuke was sure Sasori and Kisame would be more than happy to oblige.

At least his brother had the decency to leave a note, he had thought as he showered and changed out of his dirty clothes. He would have expected Itachi to avoid him like the plague after last night, but it seemed as though he was making an effort to not withdraw himself away completely.

Within the half hour, Gaara had appeared at his doorstep- hands shoved deep in his the pockets of his jeans, sporting a half amused and half irritated look. He had been pounding on the door so loudly that Sasuke could hear him from his upstairs bathroom and had ran down to swing open the door in his half dressed, hair-soaked state.

"I'm hungry," Gaara had declared as he brushed past Sasuke, and that's how their morning started.

According to Gaara, Sasori had disappeared early in the morning. Being a light sleeper, Gaara was woken up by Itachi's knocks and had exited his bedroom around six just to glare at the older brother of his best buddy. Itachi had merely nodded at him and disappeared with Sasori.

The sound of a key settling into the lock brought Sasuke out of his musings. His head turned so quickly to the wall that obscured the main door that he was sure he'd gone and given himself a whiplash. He ignored Gaara's muttering of "Fine, my ass" and waited patiently for the footsteps to come closer.

"Itachi," Sasuke called as soon as Itachi came into view, hoping that the desperation or anxiety or whatever it had been that clouded such a rushed out word didn't convey his thoughts about his fear of his brother abandoning him.

At the sound of his name, the elder had stopped, one hand gripping onto his gym duffle bag strapped over his shoulder while the other laid restlessly at his side. He turned toward the sound of his voice and paused momentarily when he saw Gaara who seemed to have chosen to ignore what was going on.

"Otouto," Itachi greeted, and despite himself, he directed a small smile at Sasuke who looked like a frightened kitten sitting on the carpet. His younger brother seemed to soak in his gesture because his shoulders relaxed. Before Itachi could get too caught up in analyzing his brother's actions, he forced his feet to move forward and climb the stairs to his room.

"You're worse than a PMSing teenager hitting puberty" were the redhead's first words as soon as Itachi disappeared.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and glared at the teen.

"Yeah, kind of like what you're doing now," Gaara commented offhandedly as he continued to flip the pages in the magazine. "Sulking like someone ate your baby."

Another glare.

With a snap, the redhead closed his magazine and swung his legs over the couch so his sock-clad feet rested on the carpet. "Now that that's out in the open, care to explain what's going on?"

The Uchiha's glare dissipated as he pushed himself up from the floor and plopped down next to his friend. "Smooth, Gaara," he muttered, drawing his knees up to his chest and turning sideways so that they were looking at each other.

"Of course," he deadpanned, earning him a sigh.

"It's about Itachi," he began, swiping a hand through his unruly spikes.

"No shit."

"He kissed me last night."

Gaara paused momentarily, before nodding his head. "Okay."

"Okay?" Sasuke inquired, an incredulous look blossoming on his face.

The redhead shrugged. "Did you like it?"

Sasuke seemed to think it over. "It was... nice," he finally managed.

"Then what's the problem?"

The Uchiha tucked one foot underneath his other knee, stretching out his right hamstring. "I don't know," he rolled his eyes. "Maybe the problem is that he's my brother, and I still happen to be a minor. Not the best combination. Plus, he said something about not being good enough for me."

Gaara snorted, muttering something under his breath.

"What was that?" Sasuke demanded, eyes squinting in assessment at the redhead's relaxed posture.

"I said, 'I'm surprised to see the day that Itachi has an identity crisis.'" Arms crossed, Gaara's gaze settled on the ravenette's confused one. He sighed, making his irritation apparent. "I thought you were smart, Uchiha."

"I am," Sasuke defended. "It's just that you're not making any sense."

Uncrossing his arms, Gaara began counting off. "First of all, you're a total babe," he said, smirking at Sasuke's arched brow. "I know it, Itachi knows it; hell, everyone knows it. Secondly, this bothers Itachi because he's your brother."

"So my looks are making Itachi reject me?"

"No, you baka, because you're a babe, it makes his job much harder since he has to fend off all those lechers who will come to harm his perfect, little brother."

The interest in Sasuke's gaze morphed into a glare. "I can take care of myself."

Gaara stuck up a third finger. "Which leads me to the next and final reason: Itachi's role as big brother trumps all other roles, or should I say potential roles, that he may want to personify in your life. From his perspective, it is enough to be your big brother. Therefore, he rejects all other roles in order to maintain a constant in your life."

"So Itachi cares about me?"

Gaara snorted again. "He loves the shit out of you. If you can't see it, you're fucking blind, Sasuke."

"No shit," Sasuke breathed, surprise evident in his voice. He had always thought his brother tolerated him at best, but this was a completely new level of surprise even for him. "You rock, Gaara," he said, fist-bumping the other male.

"Don't I know it," Gaara replied. "Now get me those big ass chocolate chip cookies you baked before Itachi steals them all."

-H.J.-

As the washer began to spin and bubbles rose to the top, Sasuke tossed all of his dirty clothes into it including the navy blue one he was wearing. Right after Gaara had stacked a large paper towel with a dozen of Sasuke's cookies, he had taken off, mumbling that if he didn't, Itachi would come after him to steal them all away.

With a loud sigh and a small smile, he picked up the last pair of jeans in the hamper, flipping it so that the small stain was facing outwards. When he was about to toss the last article inside, something white fluttered to the ground. He knelt down to pick it up and noticed with much bewilderment that it was a business card.

It read:

Club Byakugan. Come see me anytime.

\- Neji

Flipping it around, Sasuke realized that a personal number was also listed from the brunette who he almost did the dirty with last night.

He must have slipped it into his pocket sometime during the night, the ravenette thought. With a dismissive shrug, he placed it on the shelf that held the laundry detergent and softener, picked up his hamper, and left to put it away.

As four-thirty rolled around, Sasuke decided to pay his brother a visit. Itachi had stayed in his room after his shower, prompting the boy to think that, perhaps, the elder Uchiha was avoiding him after all. With a glass of unsweetened, vanilla almond milk and the three remaining cookies, he climbed the stairs that led to his brother's room.

The snack was a farce, a reason for Sasuke to visit Itachi especially when they never really bonded through speech. So when the teenager reached the outside of his brother's room and noticed that the door was slightly ajar, he couldn't help but peak inside.

Itachi's hunched over body was the first thing he noticed. He was sitting on the carpeted floor, back against his mattress with one arm strewn onto his propped up knee. The other hand laid motionlessly in his lap.

"Itachi?" he called, pushing the door open with one elbow.

God, his brother looked like he hadn't moved in hours.

Itachi's head shot up. The bangs that covered his eyes flew in every direction, showcasing his dark, somber eyes. "Sasuke," he croaked before he caught himself and cleared his throat, idly watching as the boy set the plate and cup on his desk, "what can I do for you?"

"Where'd you go this morning?" Sasuke asked when he faced his brother. Behind him, his fingers danced across the smooth, mahogany edge of the table.

"The gym, Otouto," Itachi said. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt? It's cold here."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "They're all in the washer," he replied. "Why didn't you take me with you this morning? I thought it was one of your rules."

Itachi slowly slid his propped up leg down and crossed it with the other. A series of cracks echoed through the room as he stretched out his limbs and spine. "You were asleep, Sasuke, and it was much too early in the morning to wake you, so I didn't."

It was a simple, logical explanation, but for some reason the monotonic reply made Sasuke grit his teeth in irritation. "So you're saying that you leaving me behind had nothing to do with last night?"

Itachi's face remained suspiciously blank as he stood up and moved to his dresser, but his flat palms curled slightly against his sides. "I would never leave you behind, Otouto," he stated plainly as he pulled open his top dresser drawer and rummaged through it. Sasuke noted that he retrieved a dark gray, speckled shirt before it was shut.

"Here, Sasuke," Itachi tossed him the article of clothing, the corners of his lips tilting upward as he watched the boy scramble to catch it.

Sasuke pulled it on deftly. His muffled thanks didn't go unheard as he lifted his arms to tug it over his torso. "I'll return it when my clothes are dried." A dust of pink formed on his cheeks as his brother's overwhelming spicy scent reached his nostrils—it was purely masculine, and the smell nearly overwhelmed him to the point he nearly missed his brother's next heart-lifting words.

"Keep it," Itachi replied as he sat down at the edge of his bed. "It looks good on you."

A genuine smile graced Sasuke's lips. "Thanks, Aniki."

Itachi stood and waved him over. "Come here, Sasuke," he murmured, and the teenager obliged with the same smile.

The hand that cupped the younger Uchiha's neck when he reached his brother created a double effect on Sasuke. His eyes widened in surprised at the rare contact, and a shiver of pleasure crawled up his spine. Meeting Itachi's eyes, Sasuke couldn't help but feel distraught as he saw a flash of anger flit through his brother's otherwise stone cold gaze.

"It's still there, isn't it?" The question in itself did not contain a speck of emotion, yet the unreadable, smoldering look in Itachi's onyx gaze made Sasuke gulp.

"What is?" he whispered, unknowingly shifting closer to his Aniki's warm body.

With a pointed look, Itachi's other hand reached up to swipe Sasuke's hair away from his nape. His eyes slowly trailed from his younger brother's eyes to his cheek and finally dropped down to his neck where an angry, red bruise was present.

Realization dawned on Sasuke and his hand shot up to cover the hickey. "I didn't mean for that to happen," he found himself saying despite his nerves. He snapped his mouth shut when Itachi narrowed his eyes.

Silently, the elder Uchiha removed Sasuke's hand and brought a single digit to trace the mark in circular motions. "You do realize that I nearly pummeled the living shit out of your little friend, don't you?"

Sasuke nodded quickly.

"Good, because anger and I don't mix very well, Otouto." The continuous, singular motion of Itachi's index finger caused a series of shivers to rock down Sasuke's body. "You understand?"

The boy nearly let out a whimper at the harshness of Itachi's words. He nodded his head anyway, taking note that the same unreadable expression was on his brother's face.

"I'm not scaring you, Otouto, am I?" came his brother's words, so close to his face that he could almost feel the warmth of Itachi's breath. The fingers hovering over his bruise ceased their movements.

"No," he breathed, "you're just kind of intimidating, Aniki." With an additional apologetic smile, Sasuke said, "Sorry for being irresponsible. I'll try to think things through next time."

Itachi nodded, satisfied, and took a step back, releasing his hold on his younger brother completely. Before he could resume his sitting position on his bed, however, Sasuke's hand shot up and gripped tightly onto one of Itachi's hands. The gesture genuinely surprised the elder because his guarded expression fell into one of mild surprise.

Sasuke squeezed onto Itachi's hand with both of his, forcing Itachi to face him again. "Aren't you going to tell me what you meant last night?" he pried. Choosing to ignore Itachi's warm, yet callous hand in his hold, Sasuke, instead, was determined to force an answer out of his brother if he had to.

He watched as his older brother tilted his head slightly, a gesture that nearly covered his eyes with his bangs. "You need not worry yourself over it, Sasuke," he replied, tugging gently so that the boy would release him. Instead, Sasuke glared and drastically tightened his hold.

"So that you can wallow up in your worries all by yourself, Itachi?" he asked with contempt. "I didn't realize you were such a sadist." The powerful statement was delivered in a meek tone, as though the boy was somewhat admitting defeat. "Why don't you ever tell me anything?"

It was the saddened tone that brought Itachi to the dumps. Like a fool, he caved almost instantaneously. "I am sad, Sasuke," he began, "because no matter what I do, you will never truly be mine."

"That's what I don't get!" Sasuke snapped, shoving his brother's hand away. It struck Itachi's side forcefully, but the elder didn't even flinch. "I'm already yours, Itachi! Why don't you understand that?"

A sorrowful smile touched Itachi's lips. "If you were truly mine, I wouldn't have any reservations around you, Sasuke. You're still young, Otouto; don't allow my disgraceful temptations taint your life."

"Are you even listening to me, Itachi?" Sasuke screamed, pounding his fists into his brother's chest. It was hard to the touch, and he knew that he wouldn't do much damage in his fit of frustration. "I love you, you goddamn asshole! Why can't you see it?"

"Our love for each other is on two different calibers, Sasuke. Your love for me is much different than mine for you," Itachi responded calmly. "As soon as you realize the dirty places my mind travels to every time I'm around or near you, I'd doubt you'd want much to do with me."

"You idiot!" Sasuke's voice began to croak. "Are you even listening to me? I do love you like that!" His fists pounded harder, earning him a grunt.

"I won't make a good lover, Sasuke," Itachi, nevertheless, continued to confess. "I'm a far cry from the perfect boyfriend. I'm controlling. I overreact to almost everything. I get jealous easily. I'm not romantic. I'm the epitome of the worst partner someone as sweet as you can have. I will ruin your life if I don't ruin mine first."

When those last words left his mouth, Itachi's head abruptly snapped to his right. Wisps of raven locks flew onto his flawless face, and the corner of his bottom lip was painted red. The surprise in his eyes showed briefly before they zeroed in on his baby brother who had the guts to land a fist on his face.

"Stop talking like you know shit, Itachi," heaved Sasuke. His chest rose and fell quickly, and his bruised knuckles stayed clasped at his side. "I don't care if it took seventeen years of my life to realize it, but I fucking love you. I love seeing your gorgeous smile in the morning. I love your laugh so much that sometimes I dream about it. I have shitty nightmares about you choosing your friends over me. For fuck's sake, I would take a bullet for your ass if that meant you'd pay more attention to me. If that doesn't tell you how much I love you, then you're horribly blind."

"Otouto—"

"No," Sasuke grounded out, holding his hand up. He didn't want to hear any more of his brother's idiotic excuses. "Stupid Aniki," he grumbled to himself as he began stomping to the door. His wrist was latched onto before he could even touch it.

Itachi spun his brother around and pushed him up against the half open door, successfully slamming it shut under both of their body weight. Much to Sasuke's astonishment, a nearly blinding smile stretched itself across his brother's face. It was so gorgeous that Sasuke needed to hold in a gasp.

"Otouto," Itachi repeated again, "I love you. You're all I ever wanted."

That was all Sasuke got before Itachi tugged him closer, cinching his arms around his waist, and brought his lips down onto Sasuke's.

The boy broke out of his frozen state seconds later, bringing his hands into his nii-san's lush hair and holding on for dear life. He responded almost desperately to Itachi's kisses— craving his Aniki's caresses, his lips, and his love.


	3. Part 3

The most enjoyable moments Sasuke had with Itachi were the ones that his brother allowed. 

His brother was a mixture of things. For one, he was a fairly reasonable man despite having an abhorrent temper when provoked. Despite his usual blank expression, he was also very prone to teasing if the occasion called for it. Sasuke recalled all the times Itachi would pick him up from school, eyes gleaming with unsuppressed mirth, as he eyed the hoard of girls who constantly stalked him into oblivion. He was, after all, a senior boy who apparently had striking looks. A comment or two later and Sasuke would be blushing furiously in his seat.

That was another thing about Itachi-- his brother was an absolute amusement whore. The elder Uchiha not only appreciated all forms of situations that brought him the gaieties of life especially when they pertained to Sasuke’s life, but he also sought said “gaieties” by creating embarrassing situations for Sasuke to be in. And, although Itachi’s profanity filter refined with age-- twenty-two now and counting, he had an extensive vocabulary bank of expletives when he was in his teenage years. Hard to believe, the teenager knew, but geez did Itachi have a mouth on him. ‘Fuck you’ this and ‘Don’t you dare touch that motherfucking’ that, but it had been fairly amusing to see him refrain from cursing in front of young Sasuke. Sasuke knew of his terrible temper even though Itachi had no idea that Sasuke had witnessed it at one point in his life. Yes, his brother certainly had refined his attitude with time; he went from a swearing jackass to a refined, first-class gentleman of sorts.

Sasuke observed and thought all of this with love though.

And right now, to add to Itachi’s extensively interesting character traits, Sasuke dubbed him history’s worst spoilsport. He hadn’t known what to expect from their second shared kiss, but it certainly wasn’t two fingers to the forehead and a “Foolish Otouto” afterward. 

But Sasuke supposed this spontaneous quirk also came with the family name. The Uchihas, although loving creatures of nature, placed rationale at the forefront, and when Itachi smirked knowingly at the surprise written all over his face, Sasuke glared at him and muttered an “asshole” under his breath.

So much for having an intimate moment, he had thought cynically as he brushed passed his cookie-munching brother to check on his laundry. The washer had stopped its obnoxious spinning noise, and as Sasuke began to pile his clothes in the dryer, his mind began to map out the rest of his evening.

After all, the show must go on, and since Itachi was acting so Itachi-like, the teen decided to work out his agenda, which included a pile of homework and dinner. Saturday nights were perfect for homework, and when Sundays rolled around, he’d be free from any school-related obligations.

Five-thirty came around the corner in a blink of an eye, and Sasuke had to lean back in his swivel chair to stretch out his arms and back. Once satisfied with the multitude of cracks he heard from his ever-so-calcium-fortified bones, he left his room and walked down the hall to reach the stairwell. He right about tumbled headfirst downstairs the next moment had he not gripped onto the handlebar and saved himself from serious damage. 

“Let’s have dinner.” 

His brother had somehow materialised behind him, and, apparently, he didn’t realize that he had nearly reserved Sasuke a first class ticket in a hospital bed. Mentioning it would probably bring out Itachi’s teasing nature; hence, Sasuke shrugged it off.

“I was about to wash up and cook dinner,” he said, planting his feet firmly on the carpeted floor, and casually stuffed his hands in his pockets. Although his tone reflected an unmatched boredom, Sasuke’s entire body was jittery in his brother’s presence. It was almost… unfounded until last night’s kiss rang in his mind.

“You’re misunderstanding, my dear Otouto. I meant dinner. Out. At a restaurant,” Itachi mused, allowing the slightest hint of a smirk to touch his lips at the confusion reflected in Sasuke’s eyes. “Somewhere nice.”

“Why? Is it a special occasion?” he asked suspiciously.

The only reply that he was given was a shrug. “How about that cozy fusion one downtown with the inside waterfall?” he suggested.

“Oh,” the younger Uchiha exclaimed, all thoughts about the oddity of the request fleeing his mind, “I love that place!” 

“Good. Then you must know their attire, Sasuke.”

The glee within the young ravenette’s eyes died a little. He nodded. “Yeah,” he sighed. “Do I have to?”

“I’m sure that, despite how gorgeous you are, they wouldn’t let you step foot in their dining commons if you didn’t at least wear a dress shirt.” The playful glimmer of Itachi’s true self came in the form of the teasing comment, which caused Sasuke to break eye contact with him.

“Fine,” the boy groaned, ducking his head and ignoring the comment. “But I’m not wearing a tie.” He disappeared into his room, missing the small smile adorning Itachi’s face.

His Otouto was just so… childish. It was endearing.  
\- H.J. - 

“You’re quiet today,” Itachi remarked as he stopped at a red light. 

Sasuke shrugged, keeping his gaze outside the window. The restaurant was in the heart of the downtown district. A fifteen minute drive without traffic, and an half hour drive with-- they happened to be saddled in for the thirty-minute ride.

“Something on your mind?” Itachi’s gentle words coaxed. His eyes flickered between the light and the young teenager next to him and stayed rooted on Sasuke who seemed to ignore him altogether. 

The man frowned, and immediately after, Sasuke felt a hand on his chin turning his gaze to his brother. The only indication that gave away his surprise at the touch was his slightly raised eyebrows. Since Itachi had been so keen on distancing their interactions, he’d expected his brother to do anything other than lay a hand on him. 

Itachi’s pinned him with a stare, eyes searching his features for the answer he never got, but as Sasuke expected, he heard his brother sigh when he couldn’t find anything other than his impassivity. And then, the barest brush of the man’s thumb on his chin had Sasuke jerking his head away with a grunt. Jesus, why did Itachi insist on sending him mixed signals? 

“Nothing’s wrong,” he finally managed, staring the other way. “I’m just tired.”

He could feel Itachi’s concerned gaze drill holes into the back of his head until it bugged Sasuke so much that he had a desire to spring the door open, roll out onto the pavement and run home. “I’m not three years old, Itachi. I’m not going to tell you every little detail that crosses my mind.”

Was he really so much like a child that all he inspired out of his brother was his worrisome self? Sasuke huffed. Of course not.

He felt the gaze lift from his slouched form, and Itachi continued to drive to their location. Within minutes, they had pulled up in front of the restaurant and, upon seeing how packed it was outside, Itachi suggested Sasuke get out first so he wouldn’t have to wait for Itachi to find a parking spot.

“Ask for the reservation made under my name,” he told Sasuke as the valet opened the passenger door. That was the closest anyone was going to touch his car.

Sasuke nodded in acquiescence and sauntered toward the hostess who looked very much like a character out of a fighting game. Brown hair, a silk dress with sakura petals trailing down the side, and brown eyes, by the look of it, when they made eye contact and her cheeks turned a shade of pink.

“Uchiha Itachi,” Sasuke said. “Party of two.” The teenager shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited for the girl to find their names on her tablet. He briefly glanced around at the decor and noticed that not much had changed since he last dined at the place almost a year ago.

“Sasuke-san, please follow me.” The girl brought Sasuke’s attention away from the noisy crowd, and he quietly followed her up the stairs and onto the second floor dining area. She ushered him into one of the private rooms before he realized something had been off.

Before she had a chance to step out, he grabbed onto her wrist and tugged her back with ample force. Wide-eyed, she looked at him as though he’d grown another head before the redness began to return to her cheeks. “How do you know my name?” he asked, pulling her body closer to examine her. 

“It was on the reservation list with your brother’s,” she replied, and Sasuke would have deemed her a decent liar if her eyes had not widened a fraction. His eyes narrowed. “Better yet, how do you know he’s my brother?”

She tugged at her wrist almost frantically, and Sasuke held onto it for just a touch longer, a silent threat of sorts, before he obliged and released it. She began to rub at her wrist, frowning as if she had lost some kind of bet. “How do you know me?” he growled, this time more impatiently. He looked for her name tag and found it pinned to the bottom of her black uniform shirt. “Tenten,” it read. Sasuke locked that piece of information away.

Tenten smirked, cocking a hip. “My, my, such a bad boy. No wonder he’s so taken with you,” she purred, making Sasuke frown. Her demeanor had just made a 360 turn. “Long brown hair, lilac eyes, smokin’ bod, and an all-around manwhore. Ring a bell?”

His frown deepened, and he looked like he has just tasted something sour. He had just met the man yesterday night, and someone who knew him appears before him the next day?

“Aww, don’t look so upset! Neji loves to gossip about his boytoys. He showed me a picture of you, and it was hard not to recognize you when you came in.You're like a wet dream come true!"

The man had taken a picture of him? When?

“I want a different waiter,” he finally said, turning his back to the smirking brunette. 

As if she expected such rude response, the girl laughed uncaringly and pranced out the room, leaving Sasuke frustrated. Since when did private matters become public knowledge? He’d never cared about how everyone else saw him, but why did this frustrate him now? Sasuke sighed and kicked his thoughts to the curb when the door opened and Itachi was led into the room by another waiter.

His brother gave him a tiny Itachi-smile as he walked by him and ruffled his hair, taking a seat opposite of his spot at the table. He frowned and ducked his head, working obsessively to tame his hair.

“Everything okay?” Itachi asked him, cocking his head a mere centimeter to the side.

Sasuke nodded, but cursed silently, berating Itachi for pulling off such an innocent gesture so effortlessly while he, himself, flushed at the action because his brother was so damn attractive no matter what he did. 

When they were handed their menus, the waiter, an androgynous figure with a kind smile, introduced himself as Haku and asked them what drinks they’d like.

“A bottle of Moscato Rosé for me, and my Otouto will have a glass of water,” Itachi replied before Sasuke could even begin to look through the list of beverages. 

The waiter beamed at Itachi. “Great choice!” he said excitedly. “I’ll bring it right away.” He collected the smaller menus and hurriedly walked out the room, leaving Sasuke to glower at his brother. 

Itachi smirked. “If you keep looking at me like that, Otouto,” he breathed, leaning forward, “I will bend you over my knee and spank you.”

Asshole!

Itachi moved back languidly. "Just kidding," he teased. “Besides, what kind of guardian would I be if I let my underage brother drink?”

Says the person who orders an entire bottle for himself.

“You didn’t have any trouble with that last night.” Sasuke’s reply was quick-tongued, snarky. The cabinets at home were basically filled with spirits-- from vodka, rum and tequila to Cognac and high end scotch. Christ, all they needed was a “welcome” sign and they could have opened their own bar.

He realized it was the wrong thing to say when tension filtered into the room. Sasuke shifted in his seat when his brother broke eye contact with him, opting to stare at his menu. A shadow of a frown progressively grew bigger on Itachi’s face until his grip tightened on the menu and he lifted it to cover his lips like he was unable to mask such an emotion and opted to hide it. For some odd reason, Sasuke felt ridiculously guilty for putting that kind of expression on his brother. It certainly wasn’t a thanks for treating him out to dinner at his favorite restaurant. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, inched forward in his seat in earnesty. “That was tactless of me.”

Itachi cleared his throat, snapping the menu shut and placing it down. “It’s alright,” he said, making Sasuke all the more uncomfortable at how strained it sounded. “It wouldn’t be you if you hadn’t said that, right?”

Upon seeing the sad smile gracing Itachi’s lips, Sasuke felt his heart shatter, straining his chest in something that said, ‘Aha, look at what you’ve done, you fool! You’ve gone and made him sad. Have you ever seen him sad?’ The answer was “no.” Never. Because although his brother had a fondness for teasing and it wasn’t hard to tell when he was having a good day, Sasuke had never actually seen Itachi sad, leading him to believe that his brother liked to keep these things to himself. 

“Itachi--” 

He was interrupted by the bouncy waiter, who rolled in a cart. The man set an ice pail with the champagne on the table, followed by a pitcher of cold water, and proceeded to open the bottle. Delicately, he poured a glass for Itachi while Sasuke opted to pour himself a tall glass of water. “Are we ready to order, Sirs?” he asked when he finished, pulling out a notepad and pen.

“I’ll have the Beef Wellington,” Itachi said, eyeing the bubbly drink, “with a side of sauteed garlic green beans.”

“Very good, Sir,” he says. “A very popular dish here.” He smiled at Itachi and turned his gaze to Sasuke. “And you, Sir?” 

The younger Uchiha frowned, having been too sidetracked to even look at the menu, but he flipped through the menu and pointed at the first picture that looked appetizing to him. “That,” he said, finger on what looked like cajun alfredo pasta with grilled chicken breast. 

“Ah, great choice,” he said. “I get that almost every time I dine here.” Sasuke nodded and watched disinterestedly as the waiter collected the menus and steps out the room. 

He looked at Itachi and noticed with mild astonishment that the glass Haku had poured for him was already empty. He stared, watching Itachi reach for the chilled bottle and elegantly pour himself another glass in his flute. This time, however, he doesn’t put the bottle down. Instead, he gulped the second portion down like water and poured another.

Sasuke stopped him with a hesitant hand against one of Itachi’s. His brother paused, looking at him with an indiscernible gaze filled with too much and nonexistent emotions all at once. “I know the alcohol content in there isn’t much, but maybe you should slow down, Itachi. I haven’t seen you eat much today either.”

His brows were drawn together in worry, and he didn’t release his hold on Itachi’s hand until he felt it go lax in complacency. Sasuke settled back into his seat slowly when the older Uchiha set his glass down and cradled the wine back in the ice.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, Itachi?” he asked finally, tired of the silent treatment. The silence preservered. “You’d think I’d be used to your thinking patterns by now, but that’s not the case. It’s like, if anything, you’re more volatile now than you were when I was ten.”

The younger Uchiha rubbed a hand down his face in agitation at the blank stare his brother was sporting. “Why are you doing this to me?” he moaned. “One moment you’re acting like a jealous boyfriend, telling me that I should be choosing you over everyone else; the next, you’re kissing the hell out of me. And now, you go back to ignoring me. What the fuck?”

“I… realized something a while ago,” Itachi said, playing with the stem of his glass. It was so thin and fragile that he could have easily broken it in his hand if he’d wish, just like his Otouto. “I’ve led you on. I knew I shouldn’t have opened this can of worms; I’ve prided myself in keeping things platonic for as long as I remember, and now we’re constantly at each other’s throat.”

“You didn’t open this can of worms,” Sasuke growled. “You fucking tore it asunder with your greedy little fingers when you pulled me away from another man because you were insecure.”

Itachi looked guilt-ridden. “And I’m sorry you witnessed that, Otouto. But it’s no justification. This thing between us is best left unexplored. You’re too young to decide what you want for yourself; you don’t understand how this will reflect on the rest of your social life negatively.”

“So you’re saying I’m a child who knows nothing about what I want, so you’re going to make that decision for me?” Sasuke snapped, scowling at his brother. 

Itachi nodded, a somber smile curved onto his lips. Sasuke didn’t know why he looked so despondent like Sasuke had just told him that he was dying and had a month to live.

“So as long as I’m an adult you’ll honor my decision, no matter what it is?”

“Perhaps.”

“Fine, you hypocrite.” He pushed himself away from his seat, face flushed from anger. “I’m going to the restroom.” 

He stormed out the room, passing by a giddy Tenten on his way down the stairs. The bathroom was located behind a set of double doors next to the kitchen, and he rammed through the door with fervor. “Fuck!” he yelled within the single john. He slammed a foot into the underside of the sink and was met with resistance. The pipe stubbed his toe and he did it again, because the pain had nothing on his fury.

“Someone’s cranky.” A familiar voice.

Sasuke groaned, looking up at the mirror in front of him and met lilac eyes. He pressed his hands against the sink and dropped his head, body slouching in the process, to take breaths to calm himself. “We need to stop meeting like this,” he said, voice coming out raspier than usual.

“I disagree,” Neji said, his tone light in comparison to the Uchiha’s. “I love when we have our little unexpected rendezvous.”

The younger tossed the brunette a look of irritation over his shoulder, anger melting into mild confusion. “How’d you get in?” Sasuke asked. “I thought I locked the door.”

“You did,” Neji replied, smirking. He leaned against the wall closest to the door, all six feet of him, and crossed his arms, flicking his index and middle fingers up to display the key he was holding.

Sasuke frowned. “You… own a key to the restaurant’s restroom?” he asked in confusion. He must have been looking at Neji like he was a weirdo because he noticed the man’s shoulders shaking in laughter. 

“Just this restaurant's. I assure you, I’m not a voyeurist,” he said with a slight smirk. “Well, unless you want me to be.” He winked, before sliding the key into his slacks.

Sasuke scoffed at the blatant flirtation, eyeing the man’s choice of attire. Black slacks, pristine white dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, polished loafers, and a loose light purple tie around his neck. 

“I met your friend earlier,” he said, turning to lean against the sink casually. Anger mostly forgotten. 

“Oh?” Lips twisted in mild amusement.

“She called you a manwhore.”

“She wishes,” Neji mumbled under his breath, but straightened when Sasuke gave him a pointed stare. He huffed, crossing his arms. 

“Why would she claim something false if you guys are friends?”

“She thinks I need to get laid before my dick shrivels up and dies. Her words, not mine. Not that she’d know how fan-fucking-tastic my dick looks anyways.” Sasuke snorted and Neji accommodated his reaction with a pause before he continued. “And it’s working just fine, fyi. Thanks for asking,” Neji said sassily, waving off Sasuke’s imaginary words of concern.

“Why the hell would I ask about the state of your dick when I know exactly how fine it’s working?”

Neji’s eyes widened in surprised before he doubled over, laughing like a lunatic and clutching his belly to refrain from eating shit on the floor. His face flushed a tad bit from being overworked, and soon tears are being squeezed from his eyes. Sasuke joined him after a few seconds, letting out a laugh worth remembering for the weeks to come. 

When they were finally composed enough to talk like adults, Sasuke asked, “So she wants you to get your dick fixed by telling your hook-ups you’re a manwhore?”

The brunette leans back against the wall, looking more relaxed than usual. “I didn’t realize we’ve ascended to the title of hook-ups so quickly,” Neji said, looking smug. When Sasuke shot him a ‘let’s get serious’ expression, he shrugged. “She wanted to sleep with me when we first met, but I turned her down because I was and have always been gay as fuck and no amount of pussy was going to change that.”

“Preaching to the choir,” Sasuke mumbled.

“Anyways,” Neji said, pushing himself off the wall, “I’m a great distraction, aren’t I?” He grinned at Sasuke, tilting his head slightly in question as he approached the younger with lethal grace.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on! You stomped in here like you just found out some crazy motherfucker set your house on fire and you were ready to unleash hell,” Neji said. Sasuke conceded with a sigh, and that was all that the brunette needed. “Mhmm, thought so, babe. Want me to take some more of that edge off?” He asked, stopping in front of the Uchiha. He left the barest inch of space between their bodies and leaned forward to trail his nose up and down Sasuke’s bare neck, inhaling him like he was a crack addict looking for his next fill.

Sasuke felt a warm tongue start from his collarbone and drag up the column of his neck in an excruciatingly slow place. The abandoned skin tingled with an insane fire that parched Sasuke’s throat from the outside in. “S-shit,” he moaned, fingers automatically reaching for the sink behind him for support. “What the fuck are you doing?” he managed to say.

“I just want a little taste” were the whispered words against his neck, and the ravenette nearly buckled under that throaty growl begging him for a touch more. “Just a little taste,” Neji repeated, the tips of his fingers sliding down Sasuke’s arms simultaneously, lightly scratching, until the palms of his hands settled on his hips and held them in place.

Neji’s mouth migrated to the other side of Sasuke’s neck, kissing all the skin he found there and nipping wherever he saw fit. His hot breath flourished across the pale column and Neji untangled a few buttons at the top of Sasuke’s shirt when all the skin available to his eyes and lips was completely ravished. A frantic pale hand stopped his movements and his eyes darted to meet midnight black ones. Without thinking, Neji swooped forward as though those beautiful orbs were calling to him and crashed their lips together.

The innocent gasp of surprise gave him the opportunity to turn the kiss into a French one, as he ate at Sasuke’s mouth like he was indulging in a deliciously rare fruit. He felt the seventeen-year-old respond, moaning into the kiss while his hands found his spine and finally grinded their bodies together as though he was frantic for more contact.

“Fuck,” the Uchiha swore when he tore their mouths apart, “why are you doing this to me?” His hips jerked against the brunette’s in a wild imitation of a thrust, rubbing their dicks together. He swallowed Neji’s curses with another kiss and pulled away only when his lips were as red and swollen as his.

They stood there heaving for air, chests smashed against one another, manhoods creating more friction rubbing together than sticks and stones, and somewhere in all that mess, Neji had lifted Sasuke on top of the sink and the latter had weaved his hands into the brunette’s hair. 

“We’re doing this to each other because we both fucking attracted to each other,” Neji said, hands squeezing Sasuke’s ass, causing both of them to groan. “Fuck!” Neji laughed. “I bet I’m wet as fuck right now. I feel like a fucking virgin.” He laughed even harder, digging his forehead into the boy’s neck, causing Sasuke to rejoin him in chuckles. “But fuck it if I’ll be damned enough to let us fuck in this shitty place for the first time.” 

Sasuke stared at him, mildly stunned, but after a moment’s hesitation, his lips upturned in a small smile. “For no fucking, that’s a lot of ‘fucks’ in there,” he said, hopping off the sink when Neji backed away enough to accommodate his body. 

The brunette grabbed Sasuke’s hand, bringing it to his groin. He pressed it there against his bulge and watched, amused, as Sasuke’s eyes widened at what he felt. “Oh, there’ll be a lot of fucking, babe,” he said. “Just not right here, right now. I want to take my time with you, Sasuke. Eat you out slowly and have you screaming my name in my bed. But right now, I know you have someone waiting on you upstairs and I’ve got my guests to attend to also.”

Shoot. Sasuke’s eyes widened in realization. How long had he been gone from the table? He flipped around, too distracted to notice the moan the brunette bit back as his ass brushed against his groin. He eyed his reflection in the mirror and groaned.

His hair was more tousled that usual. The top three buttons of his dress shirt were undone. His shirt was wrinkled. His neck was decorated in light red blotches. His fly had been dragged halfway down. And to top it off, his pupils were still dilating from the pleasure he received.

He rushed to fix it as best as he could in record time, but before he could fly out the door and run upstairs, Neji caught his arm and pulled him against him. The brunette leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips before smiling down at him. 

Sasuke’s brows furrowed in surprise at the tenderness of it, but didn’t question his actions.

“Call me,” Neji said. “I”m serious.”

When he made it back to the room, a little over fifteen minutes had passed. He heard Haku chatting with Itachi as he entered. The waiter was serving their food and pouring more champagne for his brother. Itachi looked up rather suddenly at his appearance, sporting a look that resembled to a deer caught in headlights, and Sasuke briefly wondered if his brother had thought, expected, him to run out on him.

When he sat down, he noticed Itachi’s gaze was drawn to his every movement like he was still shocked that he’d stayed. Then, his stare shifted and Itachi eyed his appearance, either deciding not to comment on his slightly frazzled state or not noticing he’d nearly been mauled by someone else in the restroom.

Finally done with laying out the food, Haku left the room, and immediately words began to spew out of the younger Uchiha’s mouth. “I shouldn’t have stormed out like that,” he began. “I’m really sorry, Aniki. I’m sorry I made you worry and for all the childish things I said earlier. Please don’t be upset with me.”

Itachi shook his head, signifying that Sasuke had nothing to apologize for. 

“I’ll back off, okay? I won’t even mention this thing between us anymore. I can’t say I know what’s going on in that head of yours, but I know it makes you sad when I talk about it. I love you, Aniki, okay? I don’t want something like this to get in between us.”

Itachi finally smiled at him. It was soft, gentle, and gorgeous on his beautiful face. Sasuke smiled right back, reaching over to clasp onto one of his brother’s hands.

“I love you, little brother. You’ll always be my number one.”

“I know, Itachi,” Sasuke said, tightening his grip. God, his Aniki was just so… perfect.

“What happened on your way to the restroom?” Itachi asked, fingers trailing over the underside of his Otouto’s wrist. 

“I threw a temper tantrum,” the younger Uchiha said with a wry grin. “And I ran into Neji. We talked.”

“Oh. Anything interesting?” He asked cooly, releasing their hands and picking up his utensils.

“Just random stuff. I think he owns the restaurant or works here or something.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He had a key for the restroom and waltzed in on me when I was being bitchy.”

Itachi didn’t ask any more questions, opting to eat his food in silence. Sasuke followed suit, shooting inquisitive glances at his brother every so often. Half an hour later, Sasuke managed to convince his brother to share the bottle with him, much to Itachi’s slight chagrin. He had given in to the infamous puppy dog eyes without so much as a second thought. 

When the tab was paid and they were ready to jet, the brothers made their way downstairs, their bellies warm with the alcohol. Sasuke and Itachi passed by Neji, who was escorting a group of suits out, on their way out. 

The brunette winked at him before he looked over Sasuke’s shoulder at a slightly buzzed Itachi. Itachi returned the stare with a glare full of concealed contempt, and as they passed by each other, they’re shoulders pushed past one another as if to assert their existence in each other’s lives. 

As if to mock Itachi, Neji smirked. “Until next time, babe,” he yelled over his shoulder. He saw the stunning ravenette pause before he threw a wave up in the air without looking back. 

Whew! And if looks could set someone on fire….


	4. Part 4

Everything went back to normal. It transitioned so smoothly that it was almost scary to think that a day ago Sasuke had seemingly given up on forcing Itachi’s hand in a relationship that was never going to happen. They had brooded the entirety of the rest of their evening together, watching reruns of Californication on the television while propped on opposite ends of the couch like strangers. 

Before going to bed, Itachi, much to Sasuke’s astonishment, pressed a kiss to his cheek and wished him a goodnight. With haste, Sasuke had wrapped his arms around his brother’s neck and returned the kiss, whispering strings of ‘I love yous’ in Itachi’s ears. 

“I don’t love you any less now than a few hours ago, Otouto” were Itachi’s soothing words. They triggered something in Sasuke that brought him to tears. 

He had such a fucking awesome big brother. He was always so good at reading Sasuke’s mind, which the teenager was grateful for because it saved him from embarrassing moments that forced him to stutter out his thoughts.

“I just don’t want you to end up hating me,” he said, looking down at his legs tucked underneath him. His fingers fiddled with the hem of his untucked shirt and he squeezed them into fists to stop the terrible habit. 

“It’s normal for someone your age to explore relationships, Otouto,” Itachi said, tilting Sasuke’s chin up and cupping his face in his hands. “And no matter who it’s with or what it is that you do, I will never hate you. You have my word, Otouto.” His thumbs wiped away the lingering tears as he heard the boy sniffle. “I just want you to promise me one thing. Can you do that?”

Sasuke nodded his head vehemently, hands gripping onto Itachi’s.

“If you ever need my help, with anything at all, I want you to call me. I need you call me, okay? I don’t care if it’s three in the morning and I’m in bed, if you’re afraid I’m going to yell at you for being irresponsible, if you’re at a friend’s house and need a ride-- anything at all, call me and I will come get you, okay? Your safety is my number one priority, Otouto. Remember that.”

“Okay, I promise, Aniki.”

“Good.”

And that was that. Sunday rolled around, and it was like an imaginary reset button was pressed.

School was back in session on Monday, with Sasuke stepping out at seven after setting a hot mug of coffee on the island next to a bowl of strawberries and blueberries topped with vanilla greek yogurt, granola, and grounded flax seeds. 

Itachi always stepped out the shower at 7:15 on weekdays, consumed his caffeine and breakfast over the daily newspaper, and dropped Sasuke off at school before he, himself, headed to class, then work. But Sasuke had forgotten to tell his brother that he’d promised Gaara that they’d walk with to school together on Monday, so he left a note instead next to the breakfast bowl. He’d hoped that would suffice.

It took a little over fifteen minutes to walk to the redhead’s house, ten if he was speed walking, but he liked to appreciate the morning scenery. Hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, backpack bouncing jauntily behind him, and black boots hitting the pavement like a soldier on a mission, he was the physical manifestation of all that could go right in the world.

“How’s it going, heartthrob?” Gaara greeted with a brief wave.

His best friend stepped out his house before Sasuke could ring the doorbell. Gaara slammed the door behind him and smiled in glee when the entire house shook. The question wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, especially since the ravenette had told Gaara everything that occurred the weekend past. 

“Don’t you look adorable,” the Uchiha said, eyeing him from head to toe, completely ignoring the question. Black skinny jeans with chains looping through his pockets on his right, a tight crimson v-neck nearly suffocating his chest, black and white Vans with white laces, and a black bangle or two on each wrist. His eyes were also rimmed lightly with black eyeliner.

“Shut up,” Gaara quipped without any heat. He threw his backpack over his shoulder and joined Sasuke on the sidewalk.

“I can see your nipples, you know. You’d better hope that they don’t crank up the AC in the classroom today.”

“Please,” Gaara said, quite serious. He held up a hand. “You know they’re sexy as fuck.”

Sasuke bursted in a fit of chuckles, leaning on the redhead as they crossed the street for support. “You’re hilarious,” he said, tossing an arm around Gaara’s shoulders. 

“Doesn’t make them any less hot,” Gaara murmured, crossing his arms. 

“Of course not,” Sasuke chimed.

“So did you bring my cookies?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He had offered to pack a lunch for his best friend, too, but all he insisted on was a batch of his triple chocolate chip cookies. “I knew you were itching to ask me that since you saw me, but geez, some appreciation for my company would be nice.”

“You love me,” Gaara said matter-of-factly, tossing his palm out impatiently. 

They were still walking, for heaven’s sake! “Sure, sure, I don’t know where you pack all that though.” Sasuke sighed, not denying those words, and stopped momentarily to pull out a tub from his backpack. “Here.”

“Me?” Gaara said incredulously, before greedily snatching the box away. “Look at your hot piece of ass, calculate the number of calories from the amount of lattes you drink in a day-- not to mention all the other snacks in your secret stash and that’s just the beginning, and you have a basal metabolic rate that defies science.”

“I work out, you know,” Sasuke defended.

“Doing what? Fucking?” the redhead said crudely, though without any form of judgment clawing at his words.

“Well, sometimes. Masturbating’s been more recent though. And you know I like to dance.”

“You’re saying that, but the only thing my ears wish to hear is the sound of cookies crunching in my mouth.” He pried open the box, not paying attention to how eager his actions were, and shoved an entire cookie in his mouth, moaning in bliss. 

“Woah, tone down the sassiness, man. The moaning is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“You used to love it. Besides, I figured you should know how much I appreciate your baking skills.”

“Mhmm, because your love for me bleeds into my ability to bake cookies.”

“Why, Sasuke, dear, I didn’t know you still thought that way about me.”

Sasuke laughed. “Whatever, Gaara.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence, making it through the gates at the first ring of the bell. Their school had a split schedule with periods one through three on Mondays and Wednesdays and periods four through six on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Fridays, they had to go to all classes, but they were significantly shorter. 

Sasuke and Gaara were mostly in the same advanced placement classes with the exception of their first period government class on Monday. Gaara said that he had no interest in learning about the ridiculous inner workings of politics, but in actuality, Sasuke knew that his friend had a hidden dislike for anything related to the government, coming from a politician’s household and all. He’d end up taking the AP Government test at the end of the school year anyway. Despite the lack of self-study and the class itself, Sasuke knew the redhead would pass with flying colors. 

“See you second period?” Sasuke said, giving Gaara a pat on his back before his arm slid away from him. He heard the redhead hum in agreement, and they parted ways. 

The class was halfway full by the time Sasuke walked through the door. He chose a seat at the very back, at the highest level of the stairwell-like display. The classroom was similar to the auditorium seating, wherein seats were loitered in a half circle on an extended set of stairs, with singular seats on each step. The seat he chose gave him a good view of all that occurred in the room while also allowing Sasuke to slack off if he so pleased.

The second bell rung as soon as Gai stepped through the door in that ridiculously green attire of his. Sasuke pulled out his notebook and a black ballpoint pen from his backpack and leaned forward to to write down the date and his name in the corner. 

“Good Monday, my wonderfully bright students!” Aside from a few groans, the class was quiet. ”I’ve got a surprise speaker for you today. I’m managed to haul one of my past students back here to give you munchkins a lecture on the importance of success.”

Sasuke sighed inaudibly, pulling out a bottle of water. He took a sip, then another.

“He’s nineteen years old, holds a bachelor’s in Business Administration from Stanford University, and is an up-and-coming star in the management industry!” Gai said excitedly.

Sasuke supposed it was a great feat to many, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for him especially under the Uchiha name. Itachi also received his degree in Business at that age, if not younger, but Sasuke had preferred to enjoy his teenage and emerging adulthood years rather than rush into the real world-- a sentiment that Gaara, a prodigy like him, agreed with.

He took another sip, swishing the liquid in his mouth, before capping the bottle.

“Until recently, he co-owns club Byakugan and manages the upscale, five-star restaurant downtown named Hiashi’s. My youthful students, please put your hands together for Neji Hyuga!”

The water in Sasuke’s mouth sprayed everywhere in front of him, but the students were too enthralled by the man who walked in to hear or see the mist flying everything in front of the Uchiha. Thank God no one was sitting in front of him.

The man who walked in was, in layman’s terms, sex on a stick-- almighty powerful in his stride and commanding presence. He flashed a brief smile to the class and glanced at Gai. “You look the same as usual, Gai-sensei,” he said, and the entire class laughed at the joke that harped on the man’s choice of clothing, while Gai rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and took a seat in one of the student desks.

Sasuke shrunk in his seat, his back sliding down inch by inch to refrain from drawing any attention to himself. His widened eyes had returned to normal, but his heart, for one reason or another, was pounding against his chest.

“Now you all know Gai wants me to talk your ears to death about success, but I’m going to move past that on the grounds that you all know a thing or two about life,” Neji said, leaning against the table. He surveyed the room. “Hopefully,” he added.

Don’t look my way. Don’t look my way. Please don’t-- Fuck. He saw me!

For a split second, he noticed the way the brunette’s casual gaze turned searing hot, filled with an emotion he and Sasuke knew too much about. Desire. With another blink, it was gone, and Sasuke slouched further in his seat, feeling his face heat up slightly in mortification.

“I’d like to open the floor up to questions first before I begin the short lecture I’ve prepared,” Neji said, and with a fluid maneuver, he balanced his weight on his arms and pushed himself into a seating position on top of the table, legs dangling before him.

A dozen hands shot up at once, mostly from girls, but there were a few guys as well. “No need for hand-raising. I’m not a dictator in the classroom, so feel free to speak one at a time.”

“How’d you get so far ahead if you’re only nineteen?” a pink-haired girl asked.

“Ah, the typical question I’m asked most often. And to that, I’d like to quote Smith on the ideals of hard work ethic and perseverance. ‘While the other guy’s sleeping, I’m working. While the other guy’s eating, I’m working.’ And while the other guy’s making love, I’m killing it in the bedroom, too, except I’m working twice as hard.”

The class exploded into laughter at the smirk on Neji’s face, except for the ravenette who felt the heavy gaze on him as if those last few words were meant for him. And no doubt, he’d only had a taste, but there was no way those words were painting an unrealistic picture.

“Got a girlfriend?” Another girl shouted from up top.

“Or a boyfriend?” said another at the opposite end of the classroom from the second row.

“Working on it,” he said, smirking with all kinds of mischief at the class. A bunch of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ surfaced, but the brunette held up his hand for silence. “But that’s all you guys are getting out of me.”

Then came the whines, whispers and disappointed sighs. 

Sasuke felt his heart stop. Those words weren’t directed at him again, were they? His brows furrowed in uncertainty and he eyed the man up front skeptically. The smile and those heated eyes fell on him again, this time with more severity and seriousness than he’d ever seen the brunette sport, and Sasuke swallowed hard. 

Holy shit.

No way. 

And the finality of all thoughts, why?

He thought they were just having a good time, messing around and enjoying each other’s wit. All this certainly threw him into a loop, but then again, he couldn’t approach the man and ask why because what if said person wasn’t him; then, he’d only manage to embarrass himself. And if it was him, then how the hell was he supposed to answer such a blatant confession?

His head was starting to hurt, and he tossed all the confusing thoughts out the window in favor of burying his head into his arms. The questions continued, but now Sasuke could only hear Neji’s voice, like the rest of his brain had shut down all functions except for its ability to hear the man’s sexy as fuck voice.

He groaned quietly into his arms. He was doomed. His feelings were all over the place, and the man standing all the way up front was jostling them more than usual. Curse him.

Sasuke didn’t know when it was that he had nodded off or that he had fell asleep in the first place, but when he opened his eyes, the entire class was empty including Gai, who had his free period after first period.

“Shit,” he mumbled to himself, quickly shoving his notebook into his backpack. He was about to stand, but finally realized the alarming presence next to him. He looked to his left and his dignity was nearly floored by the set of lilac eyes watching him with amusement.

“Hey, baby. Did I bore you today?”

“No. I was just up too early today,” he said, briefly eyeing the man who sat in the seat next to him looking carefree and comfortable. “Fuck. What time is it?” he asked after breaking out of the staring contest, standing up and glancing at the clock behind the teacher’s desk. His eyes bugged out at the time. It was half past ten. That meant second period had already began. That also meant that he’d be the center of attention when he walked in and Orochimaru would--

The ravenette paled, breaking into a cold sweat. His hands slammed against the desk and he swayed slightly, unable to tell left from right, up from down. “I’m late,” he murmured, trying to shake away the anxiety. “I’m fucking late for his class.”

He felt Neji's warmth next to him and knew the brunette was steadying him. ''Hey, it's okay, Sasuke,'' he said soothingly, running a large hand up and down his back. ''I got Gai to write you a pass for your next class,'' he murmured against the teenager's ears, but Sasuke was far too gone to hear him.

''Babe,'' Neji coaxed, planting his lips on the ravenette's. He drew Sasuke's face closer to his with a hand against the back of his neck and lapped at his lips until Sasuke blinked and responded, returning the soft kiss.

''There we go,'' the brunette said with a small smile after he pulled away. ''Here,'' he said, handing the tardy pass to Sasuke. ''Just give that to your second period teacher, and your tardiness should be excused.''

''Yeah,'' Sasuke mumbled. ''Thanks.''

''Off you go then, babe.''

The Uchiha left without another word, lips still tingling from Neji's taste.

Walking into Orochimaru's biology class tardy wasn't that bad. Well, not really. Sasuke endured the long, nasty stare from his teacher, which made him feel dirty and used, but other than that he was dismissed to his seat.

He sat down next to Gaara with a sigh. 

''What a fucking pedophile,'' his friend whispered heatedly, glaring at Orochimaru's back. ''You should tell Itachi about him before he grows arms and legs and attacks you.''

''What? No,'' Sasuke whispered back. ''If I tell him, he's going to go all Hulk on him. You do know my brother has a black belt in karate and is an expert in Krav Maga, don't you?'' 

''Exactly.''

''I want a peaceful solution. I don't want it all to end in bloodshed.''

''Keep dreamin', sunshine.''

Sasuke shrugged and leaned back into his chair. He'd tell Gaara about Neji's appearance later.

The rest of the day dragged on, and aside from Gaara's cookie high at lunch and his surprise upon hearing about what Neji did, school was boring. At the end of the day, Temari swung by to pick Gaara up and when she offered Sasuke a ride, he declined in favor of finishing the day's homework in the library. 

Around five, he left the school grounds, breathing in the cool breeze. In a haste that morning, he had forgotten to bring his jacket that he'd draped over the sofa the night before. He was only wearing a black t-shirt, which didn't do much for his body. 

A shiver raced through his spine as he crossed the parking lot and got onto the first bus he saw that led to the market. The fridge at home was nearly empty and if he didn't buy some groceries today, he'd have to wait till Friday to go with his brother. Besides, he only needed a few ingredients for dinner and a couple day's worth of lunch. 

The supermarket was considerably cooler than outside, minus the wind. Sasuke picked up a basket upon entering and hummed as he went through the produce. He picked out a couple tomatoes, a bag of baby spinach, a large box of blueberries, and a few red potatoes. He proceeded to walk through the aisles, placing a condiment or two in his basket. 

The young ravenette was in the bread aisle when he spotted a tall lanky figure who with long black hair at the other end. The man's back was facing Sasuke's direction, but he could have sworn the man was dressed like his Biology teacher. 

His eyes narrowed on the figure briefly before he noted, with questioning eyes, that there the brunette was brushing past the stranger and heading toward him. Was he imagining things now? A blink of his eyes later, he realized that Neji was not a mirage. 

''Hey, baby,'' he said, loud enough for anyone in their aisle to hear. It sounded sweet, warm. Right after those two words, Neji was leaning down and kissing Sasuke.

He accepted it with minor confusion. ''What are you doing?'' he whispered against the brunette's mouth.

Neji shushed him. ''Play along,'' he replied with the same low tone, wrapping his arms around his waist and slipping his tongue into Sasuke's mouth. After a few seconds, he pulled away. ''Found everything you need in this aisle?'' he asked, voice a few volumes louder.

''Yeah. I just need to pick up the ham.''

Neji linked their hands together, entwining their fingers, and picked up the basket with his other hand. He pulled the teenager next to him as they passed the man who sasuke had originally deemed familiar. Said man was now looking in their direction, expression so close to repressed anger that it looked like he was slightly trembling. It seemed he was no longer hiding his presence.

Sasuke's eyes widened in recognition and his hand squeezed Neji's tighter. He was infinitely grateful that Neji had placed him on his other side, but not so much when they stopped next to Orochimaru. 

''Sasuke-kun, what a pleasant surprise,'' the man hissed. He glanced over at Neji and to Sasuke's astonishment, acknowledged him by name.

''Ah, Hyuga-san, it's been a while. Is Hiashi doing well?''

''Orochimaru-san,'' Neji said in a tone so harsh and cold that Sasuke would have flinched if he was on the receiving end. He'd never heard the man so formal before. ''Fancy seeing you here.''

The man shrugged like he could have cared less that he was found preying on his student. 

Neji’s stare turned ice cold. “If you’ll excuse me, my boyfriend and I were just leaving,” he said, feeling the other boy glare at the teacher despite his clammy hands. 

“Of course, don’t let me hold you back,” Orochimaru said, casting Sasuke a smile that chilled him to the bone. 

“Thank you,” Sasuke whispered as soon as they stepped outside. He no longer wanted to pick up the ham and had rushed to pay for the remnants in his basket in hopes of getting the hell out of there. The sky was nearly dark, and Neji draped his coat around Sasuke’s shoulders when he noticed that the teenager was shivering. He snatched the bags from Sasuke’s hold, bunching them together in one hand.

“Come on, babe, I’ll take you home.” 

Sasuke didn’t protest when the brunette pressed a hand against his lower back and guided him to his black BMW. He watched nonchalantly as Neji placed the bags in the hood of his car and unlocked the door for him. The heater was switched on as soon as the turned the engine on and he gave the brunette a small, appreciative smile.

“How’d you know where I was?” he asked after Neji pulled out the car. “How’d you know that would happen?”

“I was dropping off some paperwork for Gai, and when I stepped out, I saw you leaving,” Neji began, turning out the parking lot. “I was going to call your name, but I noticed that he was leaning against his car like he was waiting on someone. So when he got into the car as soon as he spotted you, I got a hunch and followed.”

The brunette sighed. “Imagine my surprise when I realized that he was, in fact, stalking you.”

Sasuke groaned, digging his face into his hands. “This is such a shitty day,” he said.

“You’ve never noticed it before?”

“No,” Sasuke replied. “I mean, I’ve noticed the way he looks at me and the things he makes me do after school for being late or absent in his class, but I never thought he would follow me like that.”

“What kind of things does he make you do?” Neji asked, lips pressed in a thin line.

“Ridiculous stuff. He’d make me erase his blackboards at the end of the day and that motherfucker would write at the very top so I’d have to tiptoe or pull up a chair to get it all; and he’d stare or brush up against my ass.” Sasuke shuddered in disgust.

“Does your brother know?”

“God, no. He’d throw a fit.”

“Tell him,” Neji said, stopping at a red light and staring at Sasuke. “I need you to tell him, babe. People like Orochimaru don’t back down so easily without, at least, getting some kind of collateral in the end. If you don’t tell your brother as soon as possible, I will. It’s better to have another set of eyes on you for this, and keeping your brother out of the loop could make things worse in the end.”

Sasuke nodded his head slowly. “Okay.” His voice came out raspy, and he wanted to yell at himself for how pathetic he sounded. But Neji, as though he was capable of mind-reading, gave him a peck on his lips and a reassuring smile.

Neji hit the gas pedal when the light turned green. “For now, Orochimaru thinks we’re dating, which is a good thing. If he knows I’m your boyfriend, he won’t act as rashly as he did today. He and my uncle do business together, and his end relies on Hiashi to gain customers and flourish. It should be okay for now, but there’s still no guarantee, so I need you to talk to your brother.”

The brunette finally pulled up in front of Sasuke’s house. He switched off the engine and leaned remarkably close to the Uchiha. “You’re a beautiful boy, Sasuke. Don’t let slimy bastards like Orochimaru make you think any different. Understand?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke breathed, managing a small smile. His heart was pounding fast and hard against his chest, and he hoped that the brunette couldn’t hear it. 

“Good, now hand over your phone, babe,” Neji said, leaning back and extending his hand. He scrolled through Sasuke’s contacts and frowned when he didn’t find his name. He programmed his number into the teenager’s phone and handed it back to him.

“Call me before you go to bed.” Neji playfully blew him a kiss this time and laughed as Sasuke’s face scrunched up in mock revulsion. While waiting for the boy to grab the groceries in the back, he spotted movement in one of the house windows facing the curb. He confirmed the Sasuke’s brother’s presence-- What was his name again? Oh right, Itachi-- with a single glance. 

The gaze that met his was cool and composed. But that was just on the surface. He could see the hidden feelings fighting their way to the surface in those similar, yet different midnight orbs. The man seemed conflicted, even bothered by Neji’s presence. He turned away from Itachi without so much as a taunt or teasing smirk, but he did send Sasuke a wink when the teenager waved goodbye to him.

When Sasuke was safe and sound inside, he tossed his backpack on the sofa and neatly folded the coat that the brunette had insisted he keep, and began piling the food in the fridge and cabinets. “Itachi, I’m home!” he called as soon as he was done. He pulled a cold bottle of green smoothie from the fridge and took a big gulp.

His brother emerged his downstairs office in a pair of gray lounge pants and a dark-colored thermal. He looked good, as always, he thought. Sasuke flashed Itachi a smile, but it was quickly replaced with concern when he was suddenly wrapped in a tight embrace. He set the bottle down to return the hug.

“Hi, Otouto. You were so late. I was getting worried.” 

“I’m sorry,” Sasuke said, burrowing himself into Itachi’s hold. He was nice and warm and all sorts of comfortable. “I didn’t mean to worry you, Aniki..”

“I know. Just let me know next time when you don’t plan on coming straight home after school, okay?” Itachi stroked Sasuke’s hair gently, making the younger feel loved. He nodded in his brother’s hold and pulled away with a grin. 

“I bought your favorite kind of dango,” he said. “It was the first thing I picked up at the store.”

The concern began to fade in Itachi’s eyes, and he momentarily eyed the treat that Sasuke had left on the table. And for a moment, when Itachi returned his gaze to Sasuke, the younger Uchiha could almost sense the happiness coming from his brother. “Thank you, Otouto,” he said fondly, “but there’s no need to go through such great lengths for me.” He paused when Sasuke pouted adorably. “However, that was very sweet of you, and I will savor every bite.” Itachi bent forward and brushed his lips against Sasuke’s forehead, erasing the childish expression from the teenager’s face.

“We can go again on Friday to get more if you want,” Sasuke suggested eagerly, and all Itachi could do was nod his head. “Cool,” he grinned, before shooing his brother out of the kitchen. “I’m going to cook dinner now. You go back to what you were doing, Aniki.”

“So bossy, Otouto” were his brother’s teasing words.

He laughed and began pushing his brother out of the kitchen with his bare hands. “You love me,” he said, repeating Gaara’s words with delight.

“That I do,” Itachi replied, putting a silly smile on Sasuke’s face. 

Itachi was in a good mood, and Sasuke didn’t want to ruin it with his horrible day and bad news, so he put it off. I”ll tell him tomorrow, he thought.

For dinner, Sasuke roasted cajun red potatoes and baked chicken breast in the oven. On the stove, he made a vegetable medley with cauliflower, zucchini, sliced carrots, and squash and drizzled olive oil over the assortment. He lowered the fire and seasoned with pepper and salt.

It was all done in forty-five minutes, and Sasuke spooned everything onto two plates and carried them into the living room where Itachi was watching a movie. “What is that?” he asked, staring at the screen as he set down the plates on the low-rise table. His brother was already seated on the rug and the teenager decided to join him.

He looked at Itachi when he merely thanked Sasuke for the food and neglected to answer his question. When he returned his attention to the large screen, he jumped. “Holy fuck! Hail Jesus Christ! What the fuck was that? Oh my God!” he hollered hysterically, pointing at the screen and ignoring his brother’s warning of “Language, Sasuke.” He stared at Itachi like he was batshit crazy and threw his hands in the air in defeat. “Are you watching a scary movie, Itachi?”

“It hardly counts as a scary movie,” the elder Uchiha replied. “It’s just Ouja, and it’s more of a psychological thriller.”

“Psychological thriller, my pale white ass! That’s a horror film.” Met with silence, he glowered at Itachi and picked up his plate. “You’re a bully, Aniki,” he said finally, attempting to ignore the ominous music in the background. 

Itachi grabbed onto his wrist before he could leave the room. “I’m sorry, Otouto. That wasn’t my intention. I just thought I would try to help you adjust to scary movies.”

Sasuke huffed. “As if that’ll ever happen.”

“I want to eat dinner with you, Otouto. Come sit down, please?”

The younger Uchiha hated when his brother did that-- use his nice voice on him and voice his desires, something he rarely did. It made his obstinacy waver. “I”ll sit down if you change the movie,” he compromised.

But Itachi wasn’t having any of that. “I promise this one isn’t that bad. How about I’ll tell you to close your eyes at the scary parts?”

“No deal, Aniki,” he said, shaking his head side to side.

“I’ll let you sit in my lap?”

His head stopped shaking. “Are you patronizing me, now?” he asked, a single eyebrow raised. 

“Is that a no?”

The teenager huffed again, but this time lacked anger. “Like I’d ever turn that down,” he mumbled to himself, placing his plate down. 

Itachi smiled softly at him and released his grip, and Sasuke gently plopped himself into the man’s lap, ignoring how comical it was for a seventeen-year-old to still love sitting in his Aniki’s lap. He made himself comfortable, stretching his legs out in between Itachi’s widespread ones and picked up the knife and fork.

The heat coming from Itachi’s body made Sasuke feel safe, and a goofy smile settled on his lips when he felt his brother wrap his arms around his waist. He leaned back against that hard chest and stuck a chunk of chicken into his mouth, stabbing a second piece for Itachi.

That was how he spent the rest of the night, until Sasuke had to go to bed. He needed to get up early for school the next day, and another night’s lack of sleep wouldn’t go well with his body. He turned, gave Itachi a peck on his cheek and murmured a “Goodnight, Aniki” before making his way upstairs to brush his teeth and wash his face. 

He was so exhausted when his head hit the pillow that he fell asleep within seconds, forgetting all about Neji’s request for Sasuke to call him before he went to bed.


	5. Part 5

''It's all your fault. You have to let me sleep here.'' 

Those were Sasuke's eleven uttered words at two in the morning when he walked into Itachi's bedroom, aware that his brother had just finished getting ready for bed. Itachi never locked his bedroom door, a piece of detail that he made Sasuke aware of since he was five, crying and banging at Itachi's door in the middle of the night.

Itachi was in the middle of fixing his duvet when he stepped in and upon hearing his words and footsteps, his brows furrowed in confusion. He had already turned off the lights, but the moonlight streaming through the window pane made him aware of the slightly shaken look on Sasuke's face. 

''What's wrong, Otouto?''

''Like I said, it's your fault,'' Sasuke replied, bypassing Itachi who stood at the edge of his king-sized bed, stunned, and crawled into it like he was so familiar with it that he might as well have owned it. He shimmied under the blanket and pulled it up to his nose, deeply inhaling Itachi's scent. His shoulders sagged almost immediately, tension leaving his entire body, and left his eyes blinking owlishly at his brother.

Itachi would have smiled if he wasn't worried. He climbed into the unoccupied side of the bed and slid his body under the sheets, and threw an arm around Sasuke's waist to pull him toward his own. It was a platonic hug, or as platonic as Itachi could make it, and it was immediately returned by Sasuke with vigor when he also turned on his side and wrapped his arms around his brother's neck. 

''Sorry,'' the teenager mumbled. Itachi's smell was more potent in person than that from the bedding, and he greedily soaked it up as he felt his brother's other arm slide under his body and wrap around his waist, joining the other hand. Itachi shrugged in the embrace as though Sasuke's sassy display earlier hadn't bothered him at all.

''Was it the movie?'' Itachi asked, a teasing edge evident in his voice.

''Shut it.'' Another mumble, but devoid of any underlying anger. 

That was a 'yes' then. A smirk, too tiny to see in person much less in the dark, graced Itachi's lips. He hadn't thought the movie would give his brother nightmares, especially since he hadn't had one in what seemed like years.

Idly, he stroked Sasuke's back, marvelling at the sinewy muscles he could feel contracting under his touch. They were hard, yet somehow soft and addictive to the touch with definite linear lines that flexed every time he stroked downward. Itachi withdrew his touch almost immediately after realizing that he was indulging, afraid to do anything that might be construed as remotely inappropriate that would force a physiological response. 

He moved the hand under his Otouto’s body to rest at the back of his neck and used the hand previously petting his back to stroke his hair until he heard Sasuke’s soft breaths against his neck and felt the teenager’s arms loosen around his neck. Itachi pulled back slightly, settling his cheek against one of his pillows in order to admire the sleeping face.

His Otouto was gorgeous. Breathtakingly beautiful. A fallen angel in disguise. There were so many descriptions, so many words to describe him, and Itachi could never settle on just one to elaborate on the beauty Sasuke possessed. 

It was heart-wrenching at times to look at him and keep looking at him for conversation or otherwise. Itachi’s eyes closed briefly and his fingers resumed sifting through his brother’s hair. Sometimes he wondered what it’d be like if he didn’t have these feelings festering inside him for Sasuke. He doubted he’d have a purpose for living. He’d have no emotions at all to function properly- a mechanical machine with no human value. An empty shell. A waste of space. 

In a way, Sasuke was Itachi’s transgression and absolution. It was through the teenager that he was tasked with impure thoughts of debauchery and excessive indulgences, allowing him to dip his fingers in a pool of forbidden sweetness that made him ache daily. However, without Sasuke, Itachi would just be another man, a man without a home forced to live life alone. 

Then again, it wasn’t like he had woken up one day and decided that Sasuke was his one true love, the marker of his existence. No, the feelings crept up on him. A little here, a touch there. Every little memory building a case that eventually overwhelmed Itachi at puberty when he realized love was a much more complicated subject for him than others.

He remembered when three-year-old Sasuke had spotted Itachi with their mother at his preschool. He had abandoned the huge, yellow truck he was pushing around the sandbox and was running up to him with bright eyes, open arms and a blinding smile when, in his haste, he had tripped on thin air with the speed he was going. Sasuke tumbled onto the pavement and skid his knee hard enough for it to bleed in the coming minutes. But instead of reaching for Mikoto’s outstretched arms, Sasuke called for Itachi. He called for him. 

His little brother made him feel like he was the center of his world at that moment. Eight-year-old Itachi brushed away his Otouto’s tears and murmured soothing words to him amongst their mother’s fussing. He had picked the boy up and carried him to the car, and upon arriving at their house, he helped bandage Sasuke’s knee.

As the years grew, they seemed to move further apart from one another, probably due to Itachi’s due diligence at avoiding any contact with Sasuke that would propel him to act on his feelings. He was a selfish idiot for doing that. He had made Sasuke feel unloved. He had isolated the boy, abandoning him to figure out adulthood on his own, and if regret would bring him back to the moment that Sasuke had uttered those three, precious words to him at the tender age of ten while wiggling in his lap during movie night and Itachi had pushed him off hastily in favor of solitude in the shower where he had come to the ultimate conclusion that separation was best for both of them, he would take it all back to cherish their childhood memories together.

But that wasn’t even half of the story.

The worst came when their parents died. They had been on non-speaking terms for almost three years, only polite enough to acknowledge each other at the end of the hall or during dinner. Fugaku and Mikoto had been traveling across the European countries when they were robbed at gunpoint and killed. When news traveled back to Itachi and Sasuke via their family lawyer, Kakashi, who also taught Human Sexuality at Sasuke’s high school, they were both devastated. 

Each had their way of coping with the situation. Albeit Itachi had resorted to quite a few drunken, promiscuous nights, the numbness in his chest was unquellable, but it was nothing compared to the numerous nights when Itachi sat inside his bedroom and listened to Sasuke’s heart-shredding tears from behind the thin walls. His Otouto was only thirteen at the time, much too young to face such a tragic event alone, so Itachi’s hands were forced. He threw aside his emotions four nights after they received the news, crawled into Sasuke’s bed and held him tightly until the shaking and sobs stopped. 

The two of them spent days wrapped in each other’s arms. Sometimes, Itachi would tug his Otouto into his bed. Other times, he’d crawl into Sasuke’s. He had treasured those moments despite the nostalgia brimming in the air.

Thereon, Itachi was forced to take on parental responsibilities, using the trust left behind by their parents to sustain themselves until Itachi was more than capable of taking care of Sasuke with his own hard-earned money. He brought the two of them back on their feet by mending their bond as brothers. 

They moved on together a while later. A few years down the road, Sasuke finally hit his rebellion phase, making both Itachi’s head and heart hurt, and the separation of brotherhood began again. But that was another story for another grim day. 

Itachi sighed. It was a tired one, filled with untamed regret. His hand had stopped petting Sasuke’s hair a while ago and was content with admiring his Otouto’s flawless features. His eyes trailed down the teenager’s face, from his hairline, over his eyes to the tip of his pert nose and locked on those pale, pink lips that Itachi could assert from memory, itself, were as soft and supple as they looked. The temptation he felt as soon as he saw them was so fucking comical that he needed a moment to pull himself together by removing himself completely from Sasuke’s grasp. He eased himself away to the other end of the bed. 

That’s how he knew that he was hopeless. He was a fool earlier to even think that touching Sasuke was the only reason he became hard. Of course it didn’t even require touch to illicit an improper response because Itachi was already so enraptured that his feelings seemed to be embedded in his DNA. He was wired to be physiological attracted to Sasuke in one glance. How fucking laughable was that. He had no restraint at all if the hard on pressing painfully against his flannel pants were any indication.

He almost laughed, something that he found himself indulging in more recently. Nothing of the boisterous kind, but rather a slow quiet rumble in his chest that increased in pitch the longer it lasted and made him wonder if he was okay because the ridiculously funny thing was that Sasuke stole Itachi’s heart without even trying to, without meaning to, without knowing that he did. 

His Otouto had completely fucked him over, stole Itachi’s heart from right under him, and by the time Itachi realized what had happened, he was already at the center of some sinister God’s sick joke.

How could someone who meant so much to him bring him so much pain? 

Reluctantly, he stretched out his arm and ran his finger across Sasuke’s cheek. The skin was baby soft under his fingertip, and he wondered where else did his Otouto have such soft skin. The answer glared at Itachi in big, bold letters: everywhere. His face, his slim neck, the plains of his chest, the expanse of his back, the curvature of the ample flesh below his spine that begged for attention every time his Otouto decided to become friendly with his skinny jeans, the milky white thighs currently clasped together in a fetal position that warranted the perusal of Itachi’s attention because they made him think about-- 

For Heaven’s sake. He cut off his train of thoughts abruptly, severing the string that connected his fantasies to his Otouto, but his mind was fresh with what his eyes saw and what his fingers touched that his heart was pounding nonstop at an alarming pace against his chest.

Itachi yanked his hand away and turned his gaze away from his slumbering brother, stumbling out of bed with as much grace as a newborn foal. He swung the door open and made a beeline for the bathroom, bare feet thumping against the floor with each step. As soon as he made it to the bathroom, he slammed the door shut and pressed his forehead on the other end. His breathing came out harshly, echoing through the silent bathroom and resonating in his own ears. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, pushing himself vehemently away from the door. He raised his arms and pulled his t-shirt over his shoulders, tossing it aside. It was followed messily by his pants.

Itachi blasted ice cold water in the shower and stepped into the tub without a moment’s hesitation. The water sprayed against his back and the droplets altered their trajectory when he slouched forward against the tiled walls, plastering his elbows and arms against them to maintain his upright stance. 

“Fuck,” he cursed, fingers knotted tightly into fists. “Fuck!” 

One of his hands shot down and wrapped around his erection, tugging harshly at it as though he was punishing himself for his body’s response. The stiffness in hand reminded him too much of sleepless nights ruminating about the kisses between his Otouto and him. 

He remembered that they were searing hot; their very first kiss made his knees buckle and strained his erection to the brink of madness. Itachi had to force himself to walk upstairs that time, and it was a near impossible task indeed. After that kiss was etched permanently in his mind, he had to jack off three times to force himself out of his state of arousal. Even now, the mere thought of anything remotely sexual about Sasuke made his dick hard. 

He had permanently banned himself from thinking about Sasuke in such a sensually explicit way, but his body could never do what his mind set out to accomplish when it came to his brother. And for that, Itachi was furious. 

If this was what happened every time he laid hands on his brother, then what would have happened if he actually fucked him? He knew Sasuke wasn’t fragile, but with what Itachi had to offer, he’d doubt his Otouto would walk away unscathed. 

He twisted and pulled at his dick in frustration, unable to crush all the fantasies flooding into his imagination that were set in motion by the mere fact that he had his dick in his hand and Sasuke on his mind. Thoughts of tasting his Otouto were enough to make his legs shake. He wouldn’t savor that nectar though, not at that moment, because he’d be far too incoherent and gone to be logical in his gratification. He’d lift the teenager’s legs skyward and eat at his tight hole until he’d reduce his Otouto to the same blubbering mess he had been in for years. 

He’d flip him over and fill his ass with his thick cum over and over again until Sasuke begged him to stop because there was no room left and everything that came out of Itachi’s dick was flowing out of his ass, down his legs and wetting the mattress. But Itachi would deny him because he wouldn’t be ready to admit that it was over, that he’d no longer be a part of Sasuke. He’d turn the boy onto his back and spread his legs wide open, driving his dick deeper into him. If his Otouto said there was no more room left to house Itachi’s cum, then Itachi would make room. 

And God forbid, if his Otouto would cry aloud that his body couldn’t take it anymore and he wanted him to stop just for the time being, Itachi would probably be the shittiest lover out there because he continue to ram into him, taking his fill, until the minutes turned into hours and the hours turned into days. 

“Shit!” Itachi slammed the base of his fist against the tiles and released a guttural sound, somewhere between a moan and a growl, as his cum splashed against the wall before him in thick, heavy spurts. It lasted for several seconds and when it finally ended, he allowed the water wash away the evidence of his transgression. 

MIndless release, that’s what it was. It was his outlet, these fantasies. They were there for a reason, so he wouldn’t take it out on Sasuke, and yet he always felt worse off after than before. 

The water continued to rain down on him, much colder than before, but he couldn’t feel much on his numb body. He finally willed himself to turn off the water, sliding open the shower door and stepping onto the rug. He threw his clothes into the hamper and unhooked his black robe from the rack next to him, tugging it on and tying it up. He looked at his reflection in the mirror for a brief second before he quickly dried his hair and left it untied. 

Itachi supposed the surprise came when he opened the door and something fell against his leg. He glanced down and for a moment’s time, his harsh gaze softened at the head of raven hair leaning against him. Sasuke was sitting outside the door and very much asleep from waiting on him. The teenager must have woken up sometime during Itachi’s shower and had waited for him outside, dozing off in the process. 

He knelt down, smiling at Sasuke’s sleeping face, and lifted him up bridal-style. His Otouto didn’t utter a peep as Itachi walked down the hall and into his room; he must have had a long day from the way he was snoring quietly in his arms. He gently placed the boy onto his bed before he stepped in, pulling the blanket over the both of them. 

Itachi wrapped his arms around Sasuke and cuddled him against his own body. “I love you,” he murmured in the dark. 

\- H.J. -

When Itachi dropped him off in front of the school the next morning, the last person Sasuke expected to see was Neji, who languidly eyed him from a short distance away. The brunette was leaning against the wall adjacent to the main gates, twiddling idly with his phone in one hand while the other stayed casual in his pocket. He blended in with the other teenagers for once, even though he’d gone to college and back, with his white t-shirt, fitted black jeans, and white and red converse. The only thing that stood out about him was his face. Well, his body, too, but his face was the most distinguishable amongst a bunch of regular kids.

When he was sure Neji had spotted him, from the way his eyes sparked with recognition and his lips twisted in that infuriatingly come hither smirk, he was sure that his brother would blow a fuse. Itachi had spotted him, too, and Sasuke was almost certain that he was going to lock the doors and speed off to prevent contact.

But he didn’t. Itachi merely wished Sasuke a good day with a pat on his head and, with a glance in the brunette’s direction that spoke on so many levels of his disapproval, told him to be safe. The teenager nodded, hand barely fast enough to graze Itachi’s fingertips as his brother pulled away. With that, he stepped out of the car and waved, waiting until the elder sped off before he began walking up the steps to the school.

He watched as Neji shoved his phone into one of his pockets and met him at the side of the large building-like structure. “What are you doing here?” Sasuke asked, leaning a shoulder against the silver bars stretched around the school, which looked more like cells in a penitentiary than school gates. 

“Good morning to you, too,” Neji said, tracing his fingertips up the younger’s arm, watching his hand ascend to caress Sasuke’s shoulder before cupping the side of his neck. 

Sasuke didn’t protest the touch although he set his hand on the brunette’s arm. It was neither a gesture of denial nor of acceptance, at least not to him. “We’re in the middle of the sidewalk,” Sasuke informed, shifting his body so that his entire back hit the gate behind him. Neji followed suit, leaving very little room between them. “People are starting to stare.”

“Let them,” Neji breathed, eyes flickering between Sasuke’s dark eyes and supple lips. Neji’s left hand slid through one of the bars behind the young Uchiha and gripped onto it, caging the boy in. “You didn’t call me. I was worried.”

Sasuke’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he stared at the brunette. “Don’t tell me you stayed up all night waiting on my call.”

Neji shrugged, then winked at him. “A guy’s gotta dream.”

Of all the asinine things Sasuke thought Neji wasn’t the type to do… and the brunette went ahead and did one of them. He didn’t know whether to be annoyed or flattered. He chose option three: an apology. 

“Sorry. I kind of passed out after hitting the mattress.”

“Not a problem, babe,” Neji replied smoothly, stealing a kiss from the teenager. It was a quick peck on the lips with a flick of his tongue on Sasuke’s bottom lip. The brunette pulled back, satisfied with the hint of surprise he saw in those lovely eyes, and ducked his head into his neck. “You know,” he whispered, blowing a puff of air against Sasuke’s nape and cherishing the shiver he received in return, “I just can’t keep my hands off you.”

Every word was punctuated with a wet kiss somewhere along the column of his neck. By the time the words were used up, the kisses had met the juncture that connected with his collarbone. Neji finally pulled away and fixed the teenager with his heated gaze, triumphant in getting a positive response out of Sasuke if the hitch in his breath was anything to go by. 

“I’m picking you up after school, babe. Got it?” 

“For a busy bee, why does it seem like you always have time to show up here?” Sasuke asked, hands playing with the hem of the man’s shirt. 

“It’s not difficult when my urge to see you exceeds my responsibilities,” Neji said, dropping his gaze for a second to stalk those lithe fingers touching him. “Don’t believe me, huh?” he murmured as they maintained eye contact once more and he pressed even more kisses on Sasuke's lips. “What must I do to change that?”

“Nothing,” Sasuke responded, and any bystander would peg him as cold and uncaring if they didn’t see his palms trailing up Neji’s taut stomach. The Uchiha forced his reactions to stay minimal as the man’s abs flexed unceasingly under his touch. He lifted his palms off Neji’s body as soon as they reached his pecs and smirked at the disappointed groan. “I’ll be here at four,” he finally said, ducking under Neji’s arm. 

He barely took two steps away from him, thinking he got the drop on Neji, when the brunette grabbed his wrist and twisted Sasuke to face him. Their bodies collided with a loud gasp from the Uchiha, and Neji proceeded to attack his mouth with much less restraint than he had shown earlier. Sasuke’s neck and hips were locked in place by the other’s hands, so he skimmed his own up Neji’s back and gripped onto his t-shirt. 

When the brunette finally allowed him air to breathe, Sasuke’s lips were wet and bruised. The man smirked triumphantly once more. “At four,” he repeated, finally releasing him and stepping back. 

“Arrogant jerk,” Sasuke harped, but walked toward the gate when he realized he wasn’t going to get anything other than a victorious grin in return.

Gaara was at the end of the sidewalk, waiting for him like he always did. His best friend’s jaw was basically on the floor as he stared at Neji’s retreating back. Sasuke could only guess that the redhead caught a glimpse of his brunette companion. He lifted a finger and pushed Gaara’s mouth closed, folded his arms and watched him with amusement. 

“Damn,” Gaara uttered when he shifted his gawking onto Sasuke after Neji disappeared around the corner.

“Yeah.”

“Damn.” 

Sasuke laughed. He’d never seen the redhead so speechless. “I know.”

“Have you fucked him?”

The Uchiha shrugged, and Gaara took it as a “no.”

“Can I?” Gaara asked, half serious.

Another laugh bubbled toward the surface, drawing the attention of those around them. Sasuke left that question unanswered though and patted the redhead’s back in consolation. Gaara cursed, knowing that was a definite negative to his inquiry. 

The day passed by at a steady pace, with Gaara constantly making sly remarks about how hot “Sasuke’s man” was and how awesome he probably was in the sack. By lunchtime, Sasuke had managed to stop laughing at his friend’s unhealthy infatuation. He’d also managed to refrain from speaking about the incident yesterday, unsure about how homicidal Gaara would get.

“Party at my house this Friday,” Naruto hyped, joining them at their usual lunch table with a big plate of food. It was hamburger day, and Sasuke made sure to get extra tomatoes. “It’s going to be huge! My parents are leaving for the weekend, so I’m bringing out the kegs.” Naruto grinned widely, taking a huge bite out of his burger.

“Break out the hard liquor and we’re game,” Gaara replied for the both of them, surprising Sasuke at his quick response. He nodded reluctantly in acquiescence. 

“Done,” the blonde responded, then lowered his voice. “But just for the two of you. Any more, and Kyuubi’s going to kick my ass.”

“Look at that, Gaara. We’re special.” Sasuke said. It almost sounded like a taunt coming from him, but Naruto waved it off. 

“It starts at 8pm,” he said, eyes snagging up Shikamaru and Hinata leaving the cafeteria line. “Gotta go!” Naruto picked up his tray and proceeded to hound them. 

Sasuke turned a questioning gaze on the redhead, who was picking at the last of his potato wedges. “You’re not going to fuck him again, are you?” he asked.

Gaara shrugged. “I don’t plan to, but I’m a fan of spontaneity.” Meaning, if Naruto jumped him, he wouldn’t say no. 

“Whatever. Just don’t expect me to join again,” he said.

Gaara snorted, flicking him off. “Don’t rub it in, jackass.”

Ah, he was making a reference to Neji again. “Chill,” he drawled, hands up in the air in surrender. The redhead, that clever best friend of his, took the opportunity to snag a fry from his plate. He had been played.

Almost three hours later, Sasuke said his goodbyes to Gaara and sauntered out the front gate while the redhead left through the back. School had let out for almost an hour, but he had spent that time in the library finishing his homework. He spotted the brunette’s black car at the front of the school in the most optimal spot there was. ‘Must have been there for a while,’ Sasuke mused, pulling open the door and settling into the passenger seat. 

Neji glanced his way when he stepped in and flashed him an irritated look, not directed specifically at him if the phone pressed against his ear and the loud noise on the other end was any indication. Sasuke shut the door after him, taking no offense to the look and instead using the opportunity to set his backpack by his feet. He thrummed his fingers against his thighs and listened idly at the one-sided conversation that he could hear.

“Give me a minute,” Neji had said. A pause. Some hysterical voices on the other line. “I said give me a fucking minute.” The brunette dropped the cell phone in his lap uncaringly and surprised the teenager greatly when he leaned over and pulled Sasuke’s body across the seat and over the gearstick for a melting kiss. It was nine ways of smoking hot polished with a single ounce of tenderness. He returned it just as hungrily.

“Hey, babe,” Neji murmured against his lips when he pulled away, smiling softly at Sasuke who had a tiny flush adorning his face. He waited for Sasuke to return his greeting before moving back into his seat and picking up his phone again. 

Sasuke wiped his lips with the pad of his thumb, a common occurrence nowadays, it seemed. He rested his elbow against the windowsill and his cheek against his knuckles and stared at Neji as he resumed his maddening conversation. 

It wasn’t hard for the average person to see that he was madly attracted to the brunette. He possessed what appeared to be all the attributes he wanted in a partner down to the finest of details, even the stunt he had just pulled. Fucking hot and sweet. It was a rare combination. Neji constantly stole his breath away, constantly surprised him with his spontaneity, constantly showered him with attention that always ended with his heart pounding in his chest. He obviously had no trouble satisfying Sasuke sexually, from their little preview at the club, and the mini make out sessions they’ve had since. He was sophisticated, clever, and always nitrogen cool, so for Sasuke to see him so riled by a phone call was something that drew a smile out of him. 

“I wouldn’t have to be doing your job for you if you’d done it correctly the first time,” Neji said harshly. Some apologies by the sound of it. More muffled noises. “When does he need the inventory list by? By eight tonight? Fuck!”

After that last curse, Sasuke unclasped the seatbelt he had placed on and with one fluid heave, he swung his right leg over the brunette’s lap and brought his other knee to rest against the other side of the brunette’s hip. Neji paused in his lecture on the phone and eyed Sasuke in riled fascination as the teenager felt around for the knob that pushed the seat back further. Sasuke found it without trouble, smirking victoriously when it moved backward without descending in a slant.

He began unbuttoning the black button-down shirt the brunette wore, no doubt for work later in the evening. Sasuke’s blocked out the dark look overcoming Neji’s features when he leaned forward and nipped at the exposed neck while his fingers worked deftly to finish unbuttoning. 

Sasuke swiped the dress shirt aside when it was completely unfastened, groaning quietly when his wandering hands realized that Neji wasn’t wearing a tank underneath. He leaned backward slightly in the brunette’s lap, tongue subconsciously flicking out to wet his lower lip. Neji’s chest was bare to his hungry eyes for the first time, and Sasuke liked what he saw. He liked it a lot. 

Momentarily, he glanced down at what Neji had chosen to wear downstairs for the evening and, as expected, he caught glimpse of a pair of slacks. Good. If anything, they were much easier to open than jeans. 

“Babe.” Neji’s voice ran deeper than usual, a rumble that emitted from his chest. The brunette pressed the phone against his thigh and fixed Sasuke with a gaze that made him wish he was naked and writhing under him in a bed fit for two kings within a locked, soundproof room. “What are you doing?”

“Thought you could use a distraction,” Sasuke said, taking delight in the pale eyes that were glazed over in a wild display of lust and want. 

And that was all he said before his greedy, nimble fingers pushed the shirt over the brunette’s shoulders and soon enough stripped Neji of it completely, tossing it in the back seat. Sasuke was no longer in tune with what Neji was saying when he was back on the phone, too distracted by the tribal tattoo coiling down the man’s left bicep to be anywhere near the coherent world. He stuck his tongue out and licked a path up the man’s bicep and began to suck at Neji’s neck while his ass grinded against the heated rod he felt underneath him.

Neji’s free hand had tightened around his hip when Sasuke didn’t relent on sucking the skin between his teeth. Sasuke could feel the man’s muscles tightening when he moved down his chest and flicked his nipple with his tongue. The squeeze on his hip intensified slightly, and Sasuke was under the impression that Neji was holding back curses. 

“No. That’s enough. I don’t want to hear any more. I will be there in an hour or two. Don’t touch anything until I get there.” Neji didn’t wait for a response. He ended the call and threw his phone against the windshield, holding Sasuke’s hips down forcefully with both hands.

Sasuke’s eyes shot up then, and a playful smirk curved onto his lips as his fingers played with the fine trail of dark hairs he found at the edge of the brunette’s pants. No belt neither. Even better.

Neji wrenched his hands away from his abs and pulled them around his own shoulders. He looked ticked off, pushed off edge; his chest was heaving quickly and his muscles were wounded tight like he’d just finish a weightlifting session at the gym. It was fucking sexy as hell. It prompted another hip roll out of Sasuke, making Neji growl loudly in response.

“You’re such a fucking minx, babe. What were you going to? Make me cum while I was on the phone?” Neji demanded, sliding his hands over Sasuke’s ass and squeezing it roughly. 

Sasuke’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he moaned when he felt Neji’s dick nestle nicely between his cheeks when the brunette shifted him. His palms moved to grip the seat instead, and he slid back and forth against Neji’s lap. He dug his face into Neji’s neck once more and sucked at it to muffle his groans. 

“Are you marking me, babe?” Neji growled, forcing his hips upward in fast, hard thrusts.

“Got a problem with that?” Sasuke replied, his voice almost completely distorted from attempting to keep it at bay by devouring whatever skin he could get his mouth on. 

“Not at all. It’s a fucking turn on,” Neji breathed, tugging at Sasuke’s jeans and unzipping them.

“Shit,” Sasuke moaned as he helped Neji pull his jeans over his dick and down his ass. As soon as his erection sprung free, he began tearing at the front of Neji’s black pants, ripping the zipper open. He didn’t spare a moment and dipped his fingers inside and wrapped them around Neji’s dick, releasing a string of curses at what he felt. 

It was hot, silky soft to the touch, and it was big. Really big. He pulled it out of Neji’s briefs, relishing in the man’s heavy breathing, and ran his hand up and down once, twice, thrice, groaning each time at the girth and feel of it. 

It was an angry red, swollen from being neglected so long, and a drop of pre-cum decorated its thick tip. He ached to flick his tongue over that juicy slit to sample the taste of a real man. Sasuke wanted to dive all the way down and feel that heaviness in his mouth, against his tongue. He wanted to smell the musk that was slowly filtering into the car up close, the heady scent that made his mouth water, and suck his way down until he had the last say in their hot mess. 

So that’s what he did.

Never in the history of his life did Sasuke not know how to use his flexibility in his favor. Nor his gag reflex.

“Fuck yeah,” the brunette groaned as soon as he felt the hot breath flourish against his erection and a tongue at its tip giving it one slow, languid lick. It was like the boy really enjoyed whatever he tasted because, after that lick, Sasuke eagerly attacked the rod like a starving nymph, taking a little more than half of his dick into the wet heat of his mouth in one go. 

A moan filtered through his lips and was heard by a groaning Neji, though Sasuke could not for the life of him know how that was possible when his mouth was completely stuffed to the brim. But like he said, he was only about a little over half way down… until his nonexistent gag reflex kicked in. And in one deep breath, the head of Neji’s cock was brushing against the inner roof of his throat and his tongue was lapping around it as his mouth sucked fervently.

“Fuck!” Neji growled, both palms automatically sifting through Sasuke’s silky hair and tightening. He didn’t push the teenager’s head down though, merely guiding his mouth up and down. “Your mouth's so fucking warm, babe." 

At that point, Sasuke could not keep his moans under wraps. They flowed nonstop from the back of his throat, mixing with Neji’s growls of approval and half lidded eyes filled with unrepressed carnality.

The Uchiha became a sight for sore eyes, drool and the brunette’s precum dripping from the corners of his mouth and eyes unfocused like the task, itself, was enough for him to lose himself and shoot his load. In his disheveled state, Neji thought Sasuke looked gorgeous, sexy as hell and fucking edible. If he didn’t stop watching the boy give him head, he’d come soon, but the fact alone did not deter him from shifting his gaze at all. 

Neji disentangled one of his hands from the boy’s hair and slid it down the teenager’s back to caress Sasuke’s ass, which was tilted in the air. He growled, finger trailing circles around the twitching hole he found there. He quickly brought his fingers back to his mouth, wetting them quickly and generously, before he pushed one into Sasuke’s ass. 

The younger popped his mouth off the brunette with a whimper, lifting himself up to straddle Neji’s pelvis again. He secured his hold around Neji’s biceps, nails biting into the hard flesh but not quite breaking skin as he pushed his hips against that finger. 

“God, babe,” Neji said through gritted teeth. “You’re so fucking tight.” 

“More. Give me more,” Sasuke moaned loudly, rocking his hips back and forth.

To Neji, he looked like a sexed up addict who’d gone off the reservation for far too long to remember what real pleasure felt like. And looked like, for that matter. But then again, he had wandered into Neji’s lap so he’d take good care of Sasuke and the slippery wet erection he felt gliding against his abdomen. He obliged to the request, spreading his ass open with a free hand, and added a second finger.

Through his intense pleasure, Sasuke used his hands to surround both of their erections, rubbing them together when he moved both hands up and down at a quick pace. It didn’t take long for the both of them to cum. Sasuke was the first to release, clenching around Neji’s fingers and tightening his hold on them. The brunette followed suit, heart pounding blissfully in his chest as he watched the teenager writhe helplessly in his lap. 

As soon as they were both down from their high, he leaned over to the passenger side and opened the compartment there to retrieve pack of tissues. They cleaned themselves off and pulled on their pants, and before Sasuke could hop back into his seat, Neji tugged him forward for another this. It was tender this time, slow and probing, and the boy resisted the urge to purr. 

When Sasuke was back in his spot, fingers playing with the saliva left on his lips, Neji examined his neck. His shirt was on, but the top half was unbuttoned, giving the younger a good view of his torso. 

“You really went at it, babe,” Neji said, eyeing the hickeys that littered across the expanse of his neck and shoulders. There had to be at least five big, dark bruises and seven smaller ones. “Aren’t you glad my windows are tinted?” When he looked away from the mirror, he turned on the ignition and put the gear on drive. Once again, he was distracted by the ravenette.

Sasuke kept his eyes trained on the brunette, flicking his tongue over the index finger where a drop of cum had lingered, and smirked playfully at him. Satisfied almost. 

Neji guessed that was his answer to the bite marks, but it did a ton to provoke a groan from him, so he reached over, grabbed the boy’s hand and entwined their fingers together. “Be good, babe,” he said, setting their hands on his thigh. “I need to take care of some shit at the club, so I can’t fuck you in my car right now. Mind taking the trip with me?” 

Sasuke nodded, but it didn’t stop him from flickering his eyes to Neji’s package and licking his lips, teasing the shit out of him. 

With a final exhale, he pulled away from the curb and used his left hand to make a u-turn. His right laid comfortable in his lap, fingers twisted together with Sasuke’s. 

\- H.J. -

It turned out that the inventory list Neji’s employees had on hand didn’t match the spreadsheet version nor the crates of rum they housed in their back room. Neji explained the little details to Sasuke on their way to the club, informing him that they needed the numbers to fit by the time the place opened for business. Thus, when they entered the club, Sasuke was well aware of the severity of the situation. 

“Babe, I need to fix this. Take a seat at the bar and wait for me, okay? I”ll finish up quickly and take you home.”

Sasuke nodded, and Neji wrapped his arms around him for a kiss. “You’re fucking awesome.” He led him to the counter by the small of his back and Sasuke spotted a familiar face on the other side of it. “Tenten, give him whatever he wants to drink,” he said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. 

“You got it, Neji,” the girl replied with a smile, and then the brunette was gone. Tenten turned to Sasuke, eyeing him with minor fascination. “So,” she drawled, “what will it be, Sasuke-kun?”

“Rum and coke,” he said, setting his arms on the counter.

“A little early for that, isn’t it?” 

Early, his ass. Even at five-thirty, the sky was already darkening outside. Good thing he texted his brother when he was in the library about his late arrival, too; otherwise, Itachi would be worried. Oh, who was he kidding? The elder Uchiha would worry no matter where Sasuke was. 

“I can hold my own,” Sasuke replied, boredly tracking Tenten’s movements as she took flipped over a glass and brought out the drinks. 

“Not that you have to,” she said cheekily, and Sasuke noticed that she had glanced at the set of double doors that Neji had disappeared behind seconds ago. He ignored her, but she pressed on. “Got a thing for the boss, huh?”

“That’s none of your business,” he said in a clipped tone. “You’re the one who called him a manwhore.”

“Oh please,” she said, pouring the chilled drink into his glass. “I was just kidding.” She placed a coaster under the glass and slid it over to Sasuke, waving off his thanks. “Anyways, knowing Neji, he’d be back before you know it so I wanted to take the time to spew a few facts.”

At the serious look on Tenten’s face, Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He took a sip of his drink, applauding her silently for the brilliant combination of the two liquids. 

“You know how Neji looks like, well, like that.” She waved her arms in the air like she was having trouble finding descriptive words to state just how dazzling the brunette was. Sasuke took another sip silently, knowing the feeling. “Well, despite that, he’s never been in a relationship. Don’t get me wrong; he’s no virgin, but he’s nothing like I exaggerated. He’s only had two partners his entire life, and they were both short term- by that, I mean one night stands, and that was quite a while ago.”

‘How was that possible if he was so good at satisfying me?’ Sasuke wondered.

Tenten seemed to see through his silent musings, because she smirked, hip cocked to one side. “He’s a natural.”

‘Fuck me six ways to Sunday.’

Sasuke sat a little straighter in his chair. “How do you know this?” he questioned, referring to Neji’s past.

“I’m his childhood friend, and I work with him daily. The right question is how would I not know? Anyways, Neji’s always been more career-oriented so the fact that he’s pining after you means something. So whatever it is that you two have, ya gotta go easy on him and work with him. Despite his macho-tough guy know-it-all demeanor, he won’t have a clue what hit him if you go gallivanting into the horizon with another man. ”

“Are you giving me a pep talk?” Sasuke asked incredulously, nearly blanching at the enthusiastic nod he received. He cleared his throat. “We’re not in a relationship, if that’s what you’re implying.” 

“It sure didn’t look that way when you guys walked in,” she said, eyes narrowing in scrutiny.

“Speculation on your part.” 

“Sincere on yours, I hope,” she shot back. “He’s a great guy. Don’t let him down. Got it?” Despite himself, the ravenette felt his chin dip in a nod. Tenten smiled, satisfied. “That’s all I got. I’ll leave you to your own devices.” She moved to the other side of the bar and started slicing fruit on a cutting board. 

About another twenty minutes passed. Sasuke had finished his drink earlier and was dozing off, temple resting on a fist. He didn’t know how long he sat there, but he was awoken when familiar arms coiled around his waist from behind. With a quiet groan, he opened his eyes and was met with a small smile. 

“Hey, babe,” Neji greeted, rubbing the pads of his thumbs along his abdomen. “Sorry for making you wait so long.” 

“What time is it?” Sasuke mumbled, standing to turn in the brunette’s hold. He leaned his forehead against Neji’s shoulder and sighed.

“It’s a little before six-thirty,” he replied softly. “Come on, I’ve got the car running outside.” Neji pulled Sasuke along with him by the hand, keeping his glued to his side. 

Neji pulled out of the parking spot as soon as the both of them were buckled into his car. He reclasped the teenager’s hand, but this time he kept it on Sasuke’s thigh. The ravenette had broken out of his drowsy state during their walk to the parking garage and was now humming quietly under his breath while his other hand drew circles on the back of Neji’s hand.

“Have you told your brother about what happened yesterday yet?” Neji asked, breaking the silence. He felt Sasuke pause in his ministrations before he continued, much slower the second time around. 

“Not yet. Don’t think I’m prepared for his reaction,” Sasuke mumbled.

“That certainly does come with the overprotective brotherly complex,” Neji conceded. “Why don’t we make it a goal to tell him by the end of the week?” he suggested.

The Uchiha nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.” A pause followed as if he was contemplating something. He decided to go out with it. “My friend’s having a party this Friday,” he said.

“Oh? Which friend?”

“Naruto Uzumaki.”

“Ah, I know of him,” Neji said offhandedly, surprising Sasuke. “Kyuubi’s a friend of mine. Naruto’s the younger brother, right?”

He nodded again. “How’d you meet him?”

“We shared a class in college, worked together on a business project in Macroeconomics. Kyuubi and I hit it off on and off the books. I just got a call from him the day before last. He says he’s coming back sometime in the coming week.”

“I met him through Itachi, and then Naruto through Kyuubi when I was younger. He and Itachi are good friends,” Sasuke said.

Neji hummed, acknowledging he had heard the ravenette. “So what of this party he’s throwing?”

“Want to come?” Sasuke asked, feeling his cheeks heat up when Neji turned his eyes on him for a brief second. 

“Is this a proposal for a date, babe?” he mused, smiling when Sasuke’s hand grew increasingly sweaty in his. How cute.

“Is that a yes or no?” Sasuke shot back, unfamiliar with the embarrassment that continued to color his cheeks.

“Of course,” Neji replied. “Why would I deny you such a thing?” He pulled their entwined hands up to his lips and kissed the back of Sasuke’s hand. “I’m flattered, babe.”

The rest of the car ride back to his house was spent in silence. When Neji turned onto Sasuke’s street, the ravenette pointed to the curb two houses away from his own. “There is fine,” he said.

“You sure?” Neji asked, pulling over despite his disapproval.

“Yeah, I don’t want my brother to see you. He doesn’t like you.”

“Oh?” This wasn’t news to him, but hearing it from Sasuke definitely was. 

“Mhmm, anyways, thanks for the ride.” He went for the door handle, but Neji stopped him, presenting him with his phone. 

“Have you forgotten you’ve yet to give me your number, babe?” 

“Huh,” Sasuke murmured, amusement coloring his voice. “I don’t give my number out to strangers I meet at clubs.”

“Ouch,” Neji exaggerated, bringing his hand to his chest in mock hurt. He laughed despite himself, and Sasuke stole the phone out of his hand and opened up a new contact page. He hammered out his number in very little time, clicked “save” and returned it back to the smirking brunette. 

“Do not abuse my number,” Sasuke said lightly, “and handle with care.” He decided not to add the fact that he only added close friends to his contacts list on his phone.

“Of course, babe.” 

The brunette leaned over for a kiss, one that Sasuke expected this time, so Sasuke skimmed his hands into that lush hair and returned it with vigor. “Goodnight, Neji.”

That was the first time Neji heard his name being voice by the gorgeous ravenette before him. The beating against his chest grew abnormal for a split second like his heart had skipped a beat. 

“Goodnight, babe.” 

When Sasuke was safely inside, Neji looked down at his phone and grinned at what he saw on the bright screen. Under the name section, the ravenette had typed in “Babe.”

*

HJ: I am so not going to lie, but I am definitely rooting for Neji and Sasuke on this one. Itachi, oh Itachi, what have you done?


	6. Part 6

“I want the bottle on the left, top shelf.”

“Are you trying to get me killed?” A complaint from Naruto, albeit a justified one.

“Top shelf. Bottle on the left.” An adamant Sasuke.

“What’s the difference between that and a bottle of Jack if you’re just going to chug it like water anyway?” 

That was a fine point, Sasuke agreed, but he went through a lot of trouble tonight to come to Naruto’s party. A half hour of soothing and convincing Itachi to let him go and another fifteen of Itachi standing by his bedroom door making sure he was wearing “appropriate” clothing to be exact. 

“What’s a three grand bottle between friends?” Sasuke said with Gaara’s elbow propped on his shoulder. 

A grumble. “My head on a stick and Kyuubi cackling over my dead body.” 

“I won’t drink it all. Scout’s honor,” Sasuke said, holding three fingers in the air.

“You don’t understand! Kyuubi had that bottle imported from Scotland, and when he comes home and discovers it’s gone, I’m dead meat.”

“If you don’t give us the 1976 Lagavulin, not only will we split, but I’ll send Kyuubi embarrassing photos of you when you were drunk during last year’s Halloween party,” Gaara quipped, smirking at the terrified look on Naruto’s face. “So would you rather have a quick death when your brother finds out it’s gone, or suffer slowly and painfully for the rest of your life with his hands on those pictures?” 

Naruto began fiddling with his keys in his hands a bit too frantically as he searched for the right one.

“Oh, and that bottle of Jack you mentioned earlier would be nice, too,” Gaara added.

“You guys are horrible,” Naruto grumbled, unlocking the cabinet and pulling both bottles off the shelf. He relocked it and handed the bottles over to Sasuke and Gaara, disgruntled. 

“Cheers,” Sasuke grinned as he and Gaara walked out the storage room side-by-side to the huge living room.

“You were never a scout, heartthrob,” Gaara pointed out as they sat down next to each other on the couch. He swung his legs on top of Sasuke’s thighs and leaned his cheek on the back as he uncapped the bottle of Jack. He took a swig and passed the bottle to Sasuke who gladly took it off his hands.

“I’ve always wanted to be, though,” the Uchiha said, resting the bottle against Gaara’s thigh. “I would have been a damn good one.”

“You’re right,” the redhead said. “I can totally see you going door to door selling cookies in short shorts, a cap and a dainty scarf.”

Sasuke laughed heartily. “I don’t know why,” he said, taking two gulps from the bottle, wiping his lips with the back of his hand and passing it back, “but that sounds totally pedophelic, Gaara.” 

Gaara wrapped a pale hand around the neck of the bottle and jerked it to his lips. “Whatever,” he replied, looking away. His gaze settled on a few schoolmates by the chimney playing King’s Cup, and he began to slide his legs off the Uchiha.

“Aw, don’t tell me you got butthurt over that,” Sasuke murmured, idly watching his best friend’s Adam’s apple bob when he swallowed. He wrapped both hands against the redhead’s thigh and hefted Gaara’s legs back into place. “We’re here to have a good time, so stop pouting,” he said, massaging the side of Gaara’s thigh. When he didn’t respond and refused to look at Sasuke, the Uchiha sighed. “Fine. I’m sorry for implying that you were a closeted pedophile. I didn’t mean to upset you, Gaara, so can we move past it and have fun tonight?” 

“That’s right, hotshot. Suck it,” Gaara said, smirking. He turned to Sasuke and although he was silent aside from the aha, fooled ya! grin, the ravenette knew the redhead was laughing inside.

He got played. Again. Geez, and his only fault was taking his best friend seriously.

“If you wanted me to touch you more, you could have just asked,” Sasuke sighed, blinking innocently at Gaara as one of his hands trailed up the redhead’s inner thigh.

The redhead’s hand shot out and wrapped around his, holding it in place inches away from his groin. He eyed Sasuke with that unnerving gaze of his, sifting through his soul elegantly, before he released his grip. Finally, he uttered, quite seriously, “Don’t start something you can’t follow through with, Sasuke.” 

Sasuke immediately withdrew his hand with a muttered apology, but he stole the bottle from Gaara’s hand and took a hasty gulp. “I was just teasing. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Gaara replied, and for some reason, Sasuke got the feeling that they were no longer joking and the redhead wasn’t out to play him again. 

“You okay? You’ve been acting weird since Wednesday.” First, he accepted Naruto’s invitation without a fight and hinted that he might sleep around; then, he seemed to lose himself emotionally, which was unlike his normally cool demeanor. 

When the redhead’s eyes turned wretched and a desolate look flickered across his face for a split second, Sasuke realized it was a stupid question. Actually, he knew it was a terrible question the moment it left his mouth. Like, really, how idiotic could he get?

“Don’t answer that,” he said hastily before Gaara could open his mouth. He set the bottle on the floor next to the Lagavulin and pulled the redhead to his chest. Gaara rested his forehead against Sasuke’s collarbone, but otherwise didn’t move to return the embrace, sighing as his back was stroked.

“This is stupid,” he grunted, but Sasuke only secured his arms tighter around him. 

“No, it’s not. It’s been two years since, right? And this year isn’t going to be any different. I’ll come over. We’ll have a sleepover. I’ll bring beer and we can watch movies all night.”

Did he mention that they dated for three years? Yeah, Gaara was Sasuke’s first boyfriend- first everything, really, and vise versa; and in a week’s time, it was the anniversary of the day they decided on a mutual breakup.

Despite such, they always had difficulty around the period, Gaara having a bit more trouble with it than Sasuke. They made a promise to spend the day together every year since they ended it. Sasuke mentioned it now because in exactly a week, it was their anniversary, and Gaara always got this way around the time: clingy, broody and volatile. 

“Okay,” Gaara concurred, lightly pushing away from Sasuke’s torso. He swung his legs onto the floor, passed the scotch whisky to the ravenette and picked up the Jack for himself. “Now come dance with me.”

The redhead pulled Sasuke off the couch, and together they joined the dozens of people dancing behind them. There was something about the way they danced when they were together that could only be described as sex with clothes on, which made sense given their history, but Sasuke preferred to call it sensual. All people saw was skin on skin contact: hips against hips, torsos against torsos, fingers wounded in hair, but the bond that Sasuke and Gaara had transcended mere body language and stemmed from a relationship much deeper than anyone could comprehend.

Sasuke uncorked his own bottle and tossed the cork side as he hooked two fingers into Gaara’s belt buckle and pulled their groins together. The redhead reciprocated the gesture, tucking an arm around the ravenette’s neck and drinking from the bottle. 

The Uchiha leaned forward and brought their hips closer together, sighing at the familiarity of it all. His fingers traced over his best friend’s hip and pressed against the small of Gaara’s back. “Don’t get too shit-faced, alright?” he murmured against Gaara’s ear, turning to press a kiss to his cheek. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Ditto,” Gaara said, rolling his hips upward. He twisted in Sasuke’s hold and brought his ass against the Uchiha’s groin. 

They had only been minutes in their dancing when Gaara locked eyes on Neji heading their way. He shifted back, face-to-face with Sasuke, and gave him a sly look. “Sex on legs is here,” he said, wrapping both arms around the ravenette’s neck and resting the bottle gently against his back. 

Their hips moved to the booming music in the background and Sasuke grinned. “I can see that,” he replied, angling a particularly hard thrust against Gaara. The redhead moaned quietly at the back of his throat and glared at Sasuke, only receiving a wink in return. 

“I’m going to go mingle,” he said after a moment’s thought.

“Alright. Be safe, babe. Call me if you need anything,” Sasuke said with a genuinely worried tone, unaware that the old term of endearment left his lips until Gaara gave him an odd look. Despite such, the redhead nodded and stepped away. 

“Will do” were the only words he got before he sauntered away.

And there Sasuke stood-- faced with the newcomer; the brunette; the man he invited to the party. He was dressed casually tonight. Combat boots, dark jeans and a black and deep blue three-quarters henley baseball tshirt. 

“Hey,” Sasuke greeted, aware that Neji’s wary gaze was flickering between Gaara and himself. He busied himself by talking a big gulp from his bottle. “Glad you could make it.” 

In a flash, the brunette wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled Sasuke to him, enveloping both arms around his waist. “Should I be worried?” Neji murmured, lilac eyes settling heavily on the Uchiha’s. He was quite serious in every sense of the word to the point Sasuke felt uncomfortable under the attention he was getting.

The younger shook his head and only then did that unyielding stare soften along with Neji’s grip.

“Good,” the brunette said, brushing a hand over the teen’s ass. He squeezed roughly and grinded their hips together, smirking at the unguarded moan that Sasuke released. “Because you’re mine, babe.” 

Sasuke pulled Neji forward with a hand to his neck and closed the small space between their lips. He didn’t do as much of the ravishing as he had hoped, but the alternative was just as good. They tongued each other in intervals, often abandoning that in favor of brushing their lips together. Sasuke pulled back with a smirk. “Am I?” he whispered against Neji’s lips, cheeky, and dragged his nails down the brunette's chest. 

Sasuke felt more than heard the growl against his lips and then both of the brunette’s large hands were on his ass, and he could only hear his ownmoans as their erections rubbed together and his ass was roughly fondled into submission. 

“Want to say that again?” Neji breathed harshly against his lips, pinpointing each word with a thrust. 

Sasuke’s head rolled back when he felt the tips of the brunette’s fingers probe his sensitive spot through his jeans. The Uchiha took another swig from his bottle as he tried to ease his restless heart, but the action only drew pleasure away when Neji’s ministrations stopped. 

“How much have you had to drink, babe?” he murmured, bringing his hands to caress Sasuke’s rosy cheeks. 

The teen’s eyes were glazed over, but he was still coherent and his mind was working just fine. He pointed a finger at the middle of the bottle, indicating he’d drank about half of it. “That, plus a couple sips from Gaara’s Jack, so maybe nine shots?” 

“I think that’s enough for now,” Neji responded, pulling the bottle away. Instead of tossing it aside, he tilted his head back and must have taken another twenty-five percent of it. 

Sasuke stood there, the pout wiped off his face from the confiscation as his attention was snagged by Neji’s bobbing Adam’s apple. A light drizzle slid down the corner of the man’s mouth and dripped down his neck, and Sasuke didn’t hesitate to lick it up. He felt the man tense from his sudden action and smirked. 

The Uchiha closed his mouth over Neji’s neck and began suckling. Almost instantly, he felt Neji rip the bottle from his mouth and release a groan from his parted lips. “What are you doing to me?” Neji grunted, removing the teen’s lips from his flesh. 

Their faces were a feet apart now, and the hungry look on Sasuke’s face was almost enough to bring Neji to the brink of losing control. “I’m seducing you, Neji.” He spoke the words slowly, emphasizing the brunette’s name with a low moan and pressure against his pec. “I want to take you upstairs, strip you bare and have you shove your dick up my ass until I can’t walk properly.”

Sasuke’s tongue was loose from the alcohol, but he knew exactly what he was doing, saying. The feel of speaking his mind without being embarassed was exhilarating. With Neji’s hooded eyes and the huge twitching erection against his hip, he knew the man thought his idea was fucking awesome. And the thing about an aroused, sexed up version of Sasuke, himself, was that he always knew what he wanted and he was never shy about it. 

Neji laced their hands together and pulled Sasuke to his side. “You don’t need to seduce me, Sasuke,” he breathed, voice clouded by lust, “because I was already fucking enraptured by you the moment I laid eyes on you at Byakugan.” 

With that, he dragged Sasuke out of the living room and up the stairs. They stumbled into the first empty bedroom they found, and the brunette slammed the door shut, pinning the teen against it with his body. He set the Lagavulin on the desk next to him, entwined Sasuke’s hand in his and held them above his head. 

There was a collective moan when their lips met, this kiss filled with a slow, burning passion that nearly suffocated each of them. Sasuke was the first to tear their lips away, burying his face into Neji’s neck and inhaling the addicting scent that was solely his. Sexual tension filtered into the room at that moment as they stood one in front of the other, attempting to catch their breaths and regain a sliver of control. 

“Babe,” Neji groaned, “you’re driving me fucking crazy. I’m going completely nuts because of you.”

Sasuke chuckled against his neck. It was a wry one like the entire situation was unimaginable, ridiculous even. “You’re telling me. We’ve known each other for a week, and my life’s suddenly turned into a puddle of mess, and it's just so fucking confusing.”

“Fuck everything else. All you need to know is that I want you, babe. And you’re mine. Got it?” Neji released Sasuke’s hands, tilting the teen’s chin to meet his gaze. 

Sasuke’s breath hitched in his throat upon settling eyes on Neji’s. The man was gorgeous, and behind those lilac eyes, he saw more than want, more than lust. “Yeah,” he breathed with a small smile. "Yeah, I got it." 

"Tell me," Neji pressed on, demanded really, and the tone caused a shiver to race down the teen's spine.

He loved that guttural voice, giving him commands that turned his legs to jelly. He loved the crazed look in Neji's eyes, one that convinced him to obey and give in. But it was so unlike him to crumble so easily. He wanted to play, and he wanted to play with Neji.

"Make me," he whispered, a mischievous smile curling onto his swollen lips. He flicked his tongue over his lip, rolled his sweaty body against the brunette's and bit at his bottom lip. Sasuke wanted to moan when he felt what Neji could offer, but he held it in. "Or do you think you're not capable of it?" 

It was a bluff. He knew it. Neji knew it. And he also knew that he should not have baited a powerful man like Neji Hyuga because in a blink of an eye, his feet were no longer on the navy carpet and in another, his back had crashed into a huge mattress and he had one growling and cursing hunk of a man on top of him. The Uchiha had to blink a few times to process it all: the hands fisting the sheets next to his ears, the biceps flexing nonstop in his peripheral, the pink tinge settling on Neji’s cheeks, the knees locked against his thighs, and those intense, yet unfocused eyes above him, roaming the expanse of his facial features.

With a trembling hand, Sasuke stretched out a hand and slid his fingertips tenderly along the brunette’s cheek. It was soft under his touch, smooth and unmarred; beautiful. Neji, despite remaining in his daze, turned his face and kissed the fingers touching him. Otherwise, he remained silent, body tense, as he watched the teen carry out his ministrations. Sasuke lingered on his face for a few more seconds before his fingers glided over the back of Neji’s neck and in one swoop, released the hair tie that kept his hair in place.

Instantly, the silky hair created a curtain around the both of them. Satisfied, Sasuke’s head hit the mattress as he tossed aside the accessory. Then, slowly, using the small space between them, Sasuke reached down and pulled off his shirt in one fluid motion, noticing with a shiver of excitement that Neji’s eyes immediately darted to the newly exposed skin. He threw the maroon t-shirt aside, too.

The brunette had yet to make a move though, as if he was waiting for Sasuke’s permission. It was cute, that hesitation of his, Sasuke thought as he reached upward and tangled his hands in Neji’s hair.

Neji allowed his head to be guided down by the ravenette until warm puffs of breath flourished against his lips. “Kiss me, babe,” he heard Sasuke say in a whisper that resonated clearly in his ears and through the empty room, and that was all he needed. He closed the gap between them and groaned against those supple lips moving eagerly with his. 

The kiss started off steadily, melded with an unspoken emotion. It intoxicated Sasuke to a degree that he became drunk from the kiss, itself, rather than the alcohol sitting innocently behind them. It took off from there as the kiss became a heated mess; their tongues became untamed and sloppy, teeth clashing every so often, until saliva was rolling down Sasuke’s chin.

Neji was the first to rip his lips away, opting to trail kisses down his neck. He returned Sasuke’s little kink when he started sucking at every piece of flesh he could get his mouth on, only interrupted by an impatient Sasuke tugging at his shirt. The brunette sat back on his knees and stripped it off with little effort, stopping in his tracks when the teen sat up and began running his fingers over his chest like he couldn't wait another second to get his hands all over his body.

Sasuke met his gaze with a groan, and Neji couldn't help but remain completely still, watching the teen through half-lidded eyes as he moved his hands up and down his torso and abdomen eagerly and repeatedly. The teen was mapping out his muscles, giving Neji little whimpers that shot straight through him to his dick.

"You’re so fucking hot," Sasuke murmured, leaning forward to lap at Neji's right nub, the one that taunted him in its erect glory. He felt hands shot to his shoulders, only steadying him, as his lips unhurriedly moved to the other side and trailed wet, hot kisses down Neji’s torso all the way to the edge of his jeans. He could easily identify the V from there, and the ravenette had to pause in his expedition to swallow hard. Seriously, though, how fucking hot was this man going to get until he managed to knock Sasuke off his rocker? 

Sasuke’s body slowly slid further down between the brunette’s knees as his kisses grew sloppier, wetter, until he was full out licking him with Neji’s soft groans above as evidence that the teen was doing something right in his exploration. But really, what was it about Neji that tasted so good? Sasuke was sure his skin was cologne and lotion free, but there was a lingering fragrance attached to his flesh that made his head spin. He could only reason that it was Neji’s personal, innate aroma.

His fingers began working the belt that stopped him from his destination and when he’d gotten both the buckle and pants open, he tore it away and pushed both Neji’s jeans and briefs down to his thighs.

The man’s erection bobbed out heavily: thick-veined, a deep reddish purple, and dripping from the tip. He gave the brunette the courtesy of a smirk and received a glazed over eye-fuck in return before he extended his neck and gave the head a languid lick, moaning at the back of his throat when his nose picked up the musk. “The smell of a man,” he liked to call it.

Immediately after, his hands crept over the man’s thighs and gripped the bare flesh from behind and he sunk his mouth on Neji’s erection. 

The brunette’s vocals erupted in a guttural groan that dripped with sex, causing Sasuke to nearly cream in his pants. Nothing was hotter to the teen than a man who knew how exactly how to use his voice in bed. Often, men had the belief that remaining silent in bed was somehow tantamount to arousing or manly; the Uchiha hated that. It made sex boring and unlively. 

His grip tightened on Neji to the point he knew an imprint would remain for quite a few minutes and he pushed the man’s hips forward repeatedly until Neji’s dick would have been choking him had he possessed a gag reflex. The near bruising force of the man’s hands on his shoulders gave Sasuke a thrill and he bobbed his head faster on Neji’s dick, licking and tonguing the underside every chance he got. 

Saliva mixed with precum dripped from the corners of his mouth as the room filled with wet schlucks and Neji’s continuous curses as his hips grew erratic against Sasuke’s mouth. 

“B-baby, ugh God, baby, that feels so fucking good,” the man grunted above the teen. “I’m going to cum, baby.” That was his warning, his idea of telling Sasuke to get the hell off his dick before he squirted down his throat, but the teen didn’t move an inch. In fact, Neji felt the Uchiha’s tongue work harder against the underside of his cock in conjunction with harder sucks. 

“Fuuuuck!” 

With another thrust, Sasuke felt thick, hot spurts of cum hit the back of his throat. He closed his eyes in bliss, working quickly to swallow it all before any of it went to waste. Sasuke removed his mouth slowly from the man’s dick, continually swallowing the rest of Neji’s cum along the way until it was released with a wet pop. And if anything, whether it was the situation or the man’s stamina, the erection looked more swollen than when Sasuke had taken it into his mouth.

He didn’t dote on it for very long as Neji pulled him up into a sitting position and proceeded to clean his chin and his mouth with his tongue, finishing it with a dip of his tongue into Sasuke’s mouth. Then, as if he was angry for some reason, he abruptly pushed himself away from Sasuke and the bed and turned away on his feet, chest still heaving from the aftermath of the blowjob. 

The Uchiha splayed his hands against the mattress as his hooded eyes lingered along the flexing muscles on the brunette’s back as the man swept his hair back with both hands. Curses flew out of his mouth after a moment, surprising Sasuke and making his brows furrow in confusion. He thought they were good; obviously, he was missing something. 

Quietly, the teen bounced off the bed and walked over to the brunette. He was at a height disadvantage, not that he was complaining, being at least four inches shorter than the man who towered over six feet; so when Sasuke wrapped his arms around Neji, he was only able to rest his cheek against Neji’s shoulder after he pushed himself lightly on his tippy toes. 

“You alright, babe?” he asked gently, words nearly muffled against the man’s neck. His searching eyes were only able to see half of Neji’s profile, but what he saw gave him a start and his hands ceased their caresses along the man’s stomach.

Neji looked tortured, irrefutably discombobulated. And Sasuke could not, for the life of him, figure out why.

Sasuke turned the man around, and his hands found Neji’s white-knuckled fists. He brushed his hands across them until they unclenched; then, he drew their hands together and entwined their fingers, keeping them at their sides.

“Fuck, I- sorry. I’m not used to this.” 

Sasuke’s heart unfurled in his chest at the statement that voiced the brunette’s torment. He hated that look on the man’s face. 

“Used to what?”

“My control is slipping away and, God, I don’t know how to explain it, but you’re so fucking addictive and there’s no way I can go through this and remain unfazed afterward.”

Well, then, obviously the physical part of their relationship was solid judging by the fact that both of their erections were still waving hello. It was something more, something intimate that seemed to spook Neji. TenTen’s words flew to mind almost instantly.

‘Well, you know how Neji looks like, well, like that? Despite that, he’s never been in a relationship. He’s only had two partners his entire life, and they were both one night stands.’

‘Neji’s always been more career-oriented, so the fact that he’s pining after you means something.’ 

‘Despite his macho, tough guy know-it-all demeanor, he won’t have a clue what hit him if you go gallivanting into the horizon with another man.’

If Sasuke found this thing between them daunting, then he couldn’t possibly imagine all the things going through Neji’s mind at that moment. Despite such, he tugged the brunette down and gave him a peck once, twice, thrice and ran his thumbs along the hands that were gripping his tightly.

“We’ll take that part slowly, okay?” He had a hunch Neji knew that that part meant the emotional aspect of their growing relationship. “Nothing’s written in stone and if it is, it can always be rewritten.”

Neji brought his arms around Sasuke, keeping their entwined hands pressed against Sasuke’s back, as he pulled the teen toward his practically bare body. He began pressing kisses along the Uchiha’s shoulder blade, his tongue gliding over the marks he left there. “Shit, why are you so fucking perfect?” he asked, as if he was berating himself and justifying that he was so fucking lost at sea because of the ravenette in his arms. 

Sasuke laughed lightly and landed a kiss on Neji’s chest. “I’m far from,” he replied, craning his neck to give the brunette more room to mark him. After minutes of making love to his neck, Sasuke was released and pushed backward onto the mattress. He fell gracefully by allowing gravity to do its duty and watched eagerly on propped elbows as Neji stripped off every single article of clothing hiding his body. He couldn’t help but swallow and dip his hungry eyes up and down the man’s body as every inch of beautifully toned limb was revealed to him for the first time.

Christ, and Neji called him perfection. How silly. 

Sure, he was often complimented on his lean frame and defined features, and standing at five-nine sometimes had its perks, but there was no way his pale, unmarred skin and somewhat gothic appearance could contest with Neji’s natural beauty and grace. Honestly, Neji could easily put Aphrodite’s beauty to shame. And, well, Sasuke was different, often stubborn, petty and playful, something that came with his age, but Neji, bless him, was so honest, open and simply faultless. Oh, and drop dead gorgeous. Sasuke hoped that, if anything, he’d made that point clear.

By this point, the teen would be glad if he didn’t have blue balls. He snapped out of eye-fucking the man and unbuttoned his own pants, but he never had a chance to take them off himself as Neji lunged for him, yanked them cleanly off along with his shoes and socks, and palmed his erection.

The action drew a loud whimper from him and his head slammed into the mattress as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. A shadow fell over him and his eyes flew wide open when Neji’s nimble fingers began tugging his erection at an almost brutal pace. “N-neji,” he groaned, finding a grip on his shoulders. The muscles contracted under his touch. Sasuke wanted to tell the brunette that he’d been waiting too long for this, that he’d easily blow his load at the rate the man was going, but the brunette’s dismissing smirk hinted that he knew exactly what he was doing. 

Sasuke’s body tremble more than it already was when he felt a wet heat close around his balls, sucking both in at once. “Ahh!” he moaned, back arching off the bed. He came a second later, unable to hold it in, and made a mess all over his abdomen. Right after, his body grew limp and his tired eyes met with Neji’s heavy ones. 

“You want to know what I think, babe?” the brunette asked, swiping two fingers along his stomach to collect the fluid. He brought it to his lips and Sasuke’s dick jerked excitedly when he saw them disappear into Neji’s mouth. He nodded his head and hoped his parched throat and restless heart would fix themselves. “I think you want me to get addicted to you. I think you want to make me yours as much as I want to make you mine.”

“Am I really that transparent?” he replied in a low baritone, voice hoarse from his screaming. He couldn't help it though. He loved baiting the man, watching his walls come crashing down. 

Neji’s expression turned salacious. “Turn around, Sasuke,” he commanded, eyes growing darker with unsatiated desire. “That’s it,” he encouraged when the teen did as he was told. “Get on your hands and knees.”

Sasuke moaned at the command and he did as he was told, legs trembling when he felt two hot hands against his exposed backside. “Come closer, babe,” he growled from his position on his knees. “I can’t eat you out if you don’t stick your ass out.” 

Did the man insist on torturing him? Sasuke wondered as he spread his knees and legs, gripped onto his ankles and looked back at his lover. Then again, he supposed he had asked for it. “Better?” he asked, doe-eyed and moaning quietly.

“Fuck,” Neji cursed under his breath as his mouth salivated. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the puckered hole that peaked out at him from between those globes, screaming at him for something memorable. He spread the teen’s cheeks with both hands and flicked his tongue over the entrance, and at once, both Neji and Sasuke released a groan loud enough to be heard throughout the room and down the hallway. 

Sasuke’s hold on his ankles grew strained and his back became permanently arched as he pushed his ass against the tongue that wiggled its way inside him. “N-neji! Oh, fuck, Neji!” he cried, unaware that Neji was occupying the same incoherent zone that he, himself, was in and that it was devastatingly difficult to break out of the trance.

“So fucking good,” the man growled over and over again. “I knew you’d taste fucking good here, too,” he muttered with so much conviction that Sasuke was almost inclined to believe him. He spread Sasuke’s ass cheeks wider in order to delve deeper, but he only succeeded in getting his tongue half an inch further.

Sasuke was a mess. He couldn’t even begin to imagine where the brunette learned those tongue strokes, but he was brimming with raw pleasure and his dick was dripping incessantly under him. He had to dig his face into the comforter to muffle his screams against Neji’s fervent inclination to eat his ass out as loudly and lewdly as he could. 

“Come on, baby, open up for me,” Neji coaxed as he massaged both of his cheeks. 

Unknowingly, the teen had clenched his ass, siphoning off Neji’s ability to taste him. The teasing bites along his ass and the soft kisses that followed gave him the illusion that the man had not been aggressively going to town on his ass seconds ago. Sasuke looked behind him at the brunette through his lust-filled haze, eyes wide and silently begging.

“I want a kiss, Neji,” he pleaded, pushing himself shakily onto his hands.

Neji’s gaze flickered to Sasuke’s face and as soon as the request reached his ears, his eyes softened and snippets of his unbridled lust chipped away. He crawled forward, pressed a kiss onto Sasuke’s lips and flipped them around so the teen was straddling his pelvis. “Come here, baby,” he said gently, hands holding onto the boy’s face and pulling him down. “I’ll kiss you as much as you want. All you have to do is ask.”

Those were the final sweet words before their lips met. Sasuke’s upper body hovered over Neji’s as they made out.

“You’re so beautiful, babe,” Neji murmured lovingly between kisses. “So fucking beautiful,” he repeated, stroking Sasuke’s spine tenderly with one hand and caressing his hip with the other.

The ravenette moaned, moving away from those sweet lips when the intensity of the kisses and the weight of Neji’s words scrambled his mind and made his heart flutter. “Finger me,” he said before he hid his face into the man’s neck. “Please.”

Neji rolled his hips upward, brushing his dick against Sasuke’s as he brought two fingers to his lips and coated them with his saliva. He couldn’t help, but smile at how fucking adorable the teen was when he pulled his fingers out. Neji rubbed his index finger against the twitching hole, smearing the saliva all over it, before he applied pressure and sunk it in knuckle-deep in one push.

Sasuke groaned against the juncture of the man’s neck and collarbone, fingers gripping at the bed sheets under the brunette. He pushed back against the digit almost instantly, delighting in the slight burning sensation and the growl that Neji emitted. 

Neji fingered Sasuke harder, gritting his teeth as that soft hole clenched around his digit. He slid in a second after a minute, receiving an increase in harsh pants from the ravenette who twisted the sheets in his palms. He slowed down his pace when he felt Sasuke’s teeth graze against his neck, and his hand searched the nightstand for something he could use to ease the discomfort. To his surprise, the brunette came across a bottle of lube. He uncapped it, pulled his fingers out of the teen and drenched them in the lube.

Sasuke cried aloud when the slippery fingers entered him and his hips bucked upward and came crashing down on them. “Oh, f-fuck, fuck yeah,” he chanted, and Neji increased his pace while adding another finger. “Aghh, t-three f-fingers?” he asked in a daze. 

“You’re going to need it, babe,” Neji replied, voice deep and restrained as he managed to keep his urges at bay by grinding against the ravenette.

“I don’t want them anymore,” Sasuke whimpered, nudging Neji’s neck with his nose and lips. 

If Neji wasn’t so turned on, he’d find himself smiling. He had a feeling that the boy had no idea how darling he was. He eased his fingers out and slathered his dick with lube, easing it up and down along Sasuke’s ass until it was drenched.

“Look at me, babe,” he coaxed, waiting patiently for the teen to meet his eyes. When he did, Neji guided the head of his dick to Sasuke’s twitching hole and added slight pressure against it. 

Sasuke’s eyes were glazed over as his hands searched frantically for Neji’s own. He pressed them against the side of Neji’s head and entwined their fingers before he looked down at the groaning brunette. His bangs hung from his forehead as he focused his attention on those beautiful eyes gazing at him like he was someone special.

“First time?” Neji asked, almost jokingly even though he wouldn’t admit that he craved for it to be true.

Sasuke smirked. “Hardly.”

Neji didn’t say much else in response to his answer, but Sasuke got the feeling that his answer wasn’t something the brunette wished to hear. He dismissed the unpleasant thought at that moment, and slowly but surely added more pressure behind him and took Neji into him.

Neji forced his eyes to stay open as soon as he felt his baby’s grip tighten significantly in his. The head of his dick breached Sasuke’s ass and although Neji had prepped him with copious amounts of lube, it was still a tight fit. “That’s it, baby. Take your time,” he murmured, refusing to be carried away by his pleasure to neglect Sasuke’s. He rocked his hips lightly against the boy’s backside and Sasuke sank another inch onto his dick.

“Nej-- N-Neji,” Sasuke groaned, moving his hips back at his own fixed pace, “G-god, it’s so fucking big,” he panted, eyes shut tightly as he forced in another inch. His breath hitched in his throat when he heard the brunette moan loudly, and when he opened his eyes again, Neji looked so riled underneath him, completely at a loss for words as guttural noises made their way out his throat.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke held his breath and relaxed his sphincter and pressed onto Neji’s dick harder, groaning when he felt more of it slide into him with less resistance. 

“Y-yeah, baby, almost there. Just a couple more inches. Fuck, you feel like heaven.” At this point, Neji was spouting whatever came to mind, only vaguely aware that the words that left his lips sounded like gibberish. But the teen above him was quivering so he reached up and kissed him in an attempt to distract him from the pain he knew his lover was experiencing. 

The kiss helped somewhat, but Sasuke pulled away before he took more of the man into him because he wanted-- no, he needed, to see Neji’s face as he sank onto his cock. He grinded his hips back and downward, trying to get used to Neji’s size, but it was so difficult when the man was the biggest he’d ever had-- the biggest he’s ever seen, and Sasuke had seen a lot. Finally, with his lip between his teeth, he shoved his hips down and engulfed the rest of Neji into his ass. 

“AHHHH!” he screamed, tossing his head back as his hands clenched Neji’s and his hips locked into place. His ass burned a lot, but more importantly his stomach was itching to burst open. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this way; in fact, he probably couldn’t remember because he’d never experienced it before. “I- I feel so fucking f-full, Neji,” he nearly sobbed, head ducking back down. “I feel so full.” 

“Breathe, baby,” Neji grunted as he kissed the teen’s neck. “Breathe for me,” he instructed through clenched teeth. He needed to do something before he lost his cool like feel Sasuke’s soothing touch on his cheek or his playful fingers in his hair. Or maybe he was already far too gone to realize it. “You’re so fucking tight, babe.”

Sasuke grunted. “It’s been a while.”

Neji slowly sat up, disentangling their fingers, and hefted Sasuke into his crossed lap so that his legs were thrown over Neji’s hips in a straddle. The teen groaned against him, arms wounded tight around the brunette’s neck as he felt the man massage his ass.

“That’s it, babe. Hold onto me and don’t let go, okay?” Neji breathed and caressed his lover’s spine with a soothing hand. He felt the teen shiver against him and the brunette wanted to gloat, to broadcast to the world that this beautiful boy allowed him to be a part of his life. 

There was something intimate about their position, more intimate than people would view sex, itself. Perhaps it was the type of intimate that came from mutual affection. Sasuke didn’t know; all he knew was to keep his hands tightly around Neji like he was instructed to. He’d let the man guide him and comfort him.

“Now tell me, when was the last time you gave yourself away to someone like you’re doing with me right now?” Neji murmured against his ear, lifting Sasuke halfway off his cock and gently pushing him back onto it. 

The friction drew a bittersweet moan from the boy and caused Neji’s eyes to slide shut in ecstasy. However, where there was no indication that Sasuke was going to respond, he did it again and again and again, sliding painfully slow inside the sweet heat that teased him implacably until only the head of his cock was probing Sasuke’s ass. “Answer me, babe,” his voice rumbled, traveling down his chest and echoing off Sasuke’s. “When was the last time you allowed some bastard to have you here?” 

Neji pushed his entire dick inside, illustrating the severity of his question, and his groan was overpowered by the ravenette’s scream. He stilled his hips and trailed a finger over Sasuke’s twitching hole that had just swallowed him. 

“It’s b-been over a year,” he croaked over the man’s shoulders, pulling at the beautiful strands before him and preparing himself when Neji growled. 

Hands grabbed under his ass and he felt himself being lifted up and impaled on at least ten inches of swollen flesh. Sasuke whimpered as the brunette’s hips started to tilt upward into him, gently at first as though he was caressing Sasuke’s body from the inside out. Then, the thrusts grew harder and faster and uncontrolled until Sasuke was bouncing in Neji’s lap. 

The illusion that he was a gentle lover only lasted until Neji knew Sasuke was at the verge of becoming accustomed to his size, and then, that illusion was gone. Wiped away in the storm of emotions. 

“You’re mine,” Neji growled like an animal, and he was infinitely glad that the boy was wrapped tightly around him because he was afraid that the wild, possessive gleam in his lust-filled eyes would have scared his lover. He enveloped the base of Sasuke’s spine with his arms and shoved him down onto his dick with brutal force, smashing their pelvises together without hesitation. Neji was fueled by the endless moans that Sasuke could not contain, the sobs and whimpers that dripped with raw, unruly desire. “Tell me you’re mine, babe” he demanded, reaching a hand between them to tease the neglected erection. “Tell me.” 

He smeared the wet slit with the pad of his thumb, smirking when those dainty hands squeezed around him reflexively. “Give me what I want, babe, and I’ll give you what you desire.”

God, how could the man be that sweet and possessive at the same time?

Those words extracted Sasuke from his pleasure-soaked mind and he forced himself to fall back on his palms, pressing firmly down on the bed so he could balance his weight in the man’s lap. He was a mess- sweat dripping down his face, hair matted, face red, and breaths ragged and incapable of a steady rhythm. His eyes settled on the brunette, and for once, Neji looked just as riled as he was. 

“A-ahh, tell m-me you’re mine instead,” he said, words barely making sense from his lowered voice. He sounded drugged as he grinded on Neji’s cock at his own pace. “H-ha-aah, I want you to be mine, too,” he whimpered as he felt the blunt head hit his prostate deadon. “Oh, fuck yeah.”

No longer able to restrain himself, Neji tackled the boy and shoved him onto the mattress with his dick still inside. Growling, he threw Sasuke’s legs over his shoulders and pistoned his hips with harsh thrusts, attacking the teen’s prostate each time. “I’m yours,” he panted, face inches away from Sasuke’s. “I’m yours, babe,” he repeated, eyes swimming with an emotion Sasuke could not identify. “Like I said, I’ve been yours the moment I laid eyes on you. Why must you tease me like this, babe?”

It didn’t cross the Uchiha’s mind for a second that Neji would give into his request so readily. And for goodness sake, why did it feel like his hammering heart had just skipped a beat? Was that even possible? 

A noise that Sasuke had never heard before tumbled out of his lips before he could reign it in. It sounded untamed; animalistic. “B-babe,” he stuttered in between the powerful thrusts, fisting the wrinkled sheets, “k-kiss. Kiss m-me.” 

He reached for the brunette’s face and sighed inaudibly when his palms made contact with that unblemished skin. He tried to lift his neck up to meet Neji’s lips, but the new position filled him to the brim and it ached to move. “Kiss me,” he begged, wide-eyed and borderline teary as he attempted to lift his head again. 

“Don’t make that face, babe,” Neji said as he lowered himself. “I’ll give you a kiss.”

Sasuke moaned softly against the man’s lips when his wish was granted. They felt so firm against his own, guiding his tongue and exploring his mouth. “Neji, I’m yours,” he breathed when the man pulled back, and he watched as the man’s eyes grew feral and his grip on the back of Sasuke’s thighs became bruising. 

“Say it again,” he hissed, pulling completely out and entering the teen in long, deep thrusts. He vaguely felt nails digging into his back and raking downward, drawing blood, but the only thing he could feel was the tight little hole that wouldn’t let go of his dick. 

“I’m y-yours,” Sasuke sobbed as he was pried open and ruined by the massive size of the man’s cock. He even wondered if Neji knew how big he actually was as he pummeled into him without mercy. But Sasuke was far from complaining as he felt it drag along his insides, marking him.

“So fucking soft,” Neji grunted, eyes trained on the pleasure flitting past Sasuke’s face. He reached a hand down and wrapped it around Sasuke’s erection, tugging at it until it weeped nonstop. “Cum for me, babe,” he commanded when the teen’s ass clenched tightly around the thickness of his manhood. He dipped down and traced Sasuke’s ear with his tongue and lightly dipped it inside. “Cum for me,” he breathed.

Sasuke felt his dick pulsing in the brunette’s hand and dug his fingernails further into Neji’s back. The man didn’t even blink at the pain. “Ahhh, fuck, fuck, fuck. N-neji, bab-be, oh God!” His torso twisted against the bed as his mouth dropped open in pleasure and pearl white cum splashed all over his abdomen. His eyes slid close and his hips were still moving at an irregular pace when he was milked dry.

As he came down from his high, his blurry vision caught sight of the look on Neji’s face. His chest was heaving, lips parted, hair tousled, cheeks painted pink and eyes predatory, and if Sasuke didn’t know any better he’d say that it was Neji who had just had the orgasm of his life.

Neji was pumping into him with an untapped energy reserve, spreading Sasuke’s thighs open like an offering and thrusting with no sense of self-control. “You’re so beautiful,” he groaned, hips moving faster and faster. “So beautiful, babe, and you’re all mine.”

He seemed to have been babbling more to himself than Sasuke, but it didn’t faze the teen. He opened his legs wider so that his hips were no longer on the mattress and used his hands to spread apart his ass, unaware that the new private view shook Neji to the core. 

“Cum inside me, Neji” Sasuke moaned lightly.

And Neji’s erection hardened further and swelled inside the teen, so he circled his hips so his dick could stir up the ravenette. Neji wanted Sasuke to feel just how utterly gone he had become, swept up by the tornado that Sasuke was so talented in creating. He wanted to stir him up and make him irrefutably his.

It didn’t take long for Neji to squirt inside Sasuke after having heard those words leave the ravenette’s swollen, pink lips. With another thrust deep inside, he locked his hips in place and let out a string of curses as his dick began spurting inside the teen. And although Neji was quite a big man, the amount of semen he filled Sasuke with was much more than average. 

He felt the boy’s asshole twitch as the hot liquid splashed inside, and Neji smirked as he felt the boy take it all. After all, he had plugged his lover’s ass completely and he couldn’t pull out just yet and risk it spilling out and going to waste. “God, baby, so fucking good,” he murmured after the minute it took for him to finishing ejaculating. 

“It’s so hot inside, Neji,” he heard the boy whimper from under him, and all he wanted to do was crush Sasuke to his chest and hold onto him for dear life. Instead, he dipped down and molded their lips together, stealing the remnants of Sasuke’s breath away.

“It’s okay, babe,” he soothed, pressing delicate pecks on Sasuke’s lips after he forced himself to pull away from the steamy kiss. “It’s just me.” He rested his forehead against the ravenette’s and smiled softly when their eyes met. He brushed away the sweaty locks near Sasuke’s eyes, lips curving further upward when the boy pouted underneath him. 

“How long do you plan to stay inside--”

A heavy thud in the room caught both of their attention. They snapped their heads toward the door where the noise had resonated, and Sasuke noticed three distinct things amidst Neji’s exasperated growl. First, it was the black duffle bag that sat innocently on the floor, which hadn’t exist when they rushed inside the room. Then, there was the glaring fact that someone very familiar was standing in the room, which was the reason for Neji’s untoward reaction. And finally, said person had kicked the door shut upon entering. How courteous, Sasuke thought with amusement.

“Wow, I don’t know if I should be turned on or disgusted that you guys are doing it in my bed.” The newcomer combed a hand through his spiky, but somewhat lengthy hair and leaned against the mahogany desk. 

Sasuke noticed that the man’s gaze had settled on the close-to-empty bottle sitting innocently to his left, but he didn’t comment on it aside from the raised eyebrow. The teen gave Neji a small push and rolled onto the side of the bed, swept his legs over it and began walking over to the blonde hottie who had dyed the tips of his hair red. He discovered that a smile was overtaking his features as he approached. 

“Well, well, well. Little Sasuke isn’t so little anymore” came the teasing words. The twinkle in the dirty blonde’s eyes made Sasuke laugh as he sauntered closer to the man as if he was wearing clothes when, clearly, the interested and roaming eyes were looking at him in every other way but that; after all, he was naked, wearing his birthday suit complete with his soft manhood jostling between his thighs with each step he took.

“Hi, Kyuubi,” he greeted with a grin, reaching up to hug the older and much taller male. His grin widened when he felt the man return his hug, squeezing him to his body and lifting him off the floor to twirl him around.

“Daaw, getting all chummy with me, chibi,” Kyuubi drawled, “even though I caught you guys fucking on my mattress, which- I reiterate- I still can’t decide if I wanna snap a picture or break your bones.” He glanced over Sasuke’s shoulder when he mentioned broken bones, and the teen followed the blonde’s gaze to an irritated Neji sitting at the edge of the bed. He returned his gaze to Sasuke and his lips quirked when he felt the boy peck the corner of his mouth; he placed him back on his feet the next second and ruffled his spikes when he heard a muffled “Welcome home.”

“Hey, now, can’t have any of that or Itachi’ll kill me.” Kyuubi stated the fact like the statement didn’t really bother him at all. “Not that I mind, I’d probably die a happy man, but I don’t want to step over boundaries twice.” He smirked. “Wouldn’t mind two more though,” he said, pointing at both his cheeks, making Sasuke laugh even though he obliged. The man took a bow in gratitude and grinned. “And thank you, my dear chibi. It’s good to be back.” 

Kyuubi’s gaze was drawn behind Sasuke again, but this time it was because Neji was approaching them in all his naked glory. “Hey, stud. Where’s my warm welcome?” he asked with an outstretched hand. Neji gripped onto it and they briefly shared a hug. “Hey, don’t give me that sour look. It’s not my fault you decided to fuck in my bed.”

They were about the same height, Sasuke noticed, as the two bickered right in front of him. Whereas Naruto was cute in his own annoying way, Kyuubi was the complete opposite. He was top-of-the-shelf spicy in all realms with established businesses wherever he went. It wasn't hard picturing Neji and Kyuubi as friends and loyal ones at that, despite their little quarrel. And Sasuke wouldn’t deny that he’d had a crush on the man in his earlier years when nocturnal emissions and soiled sheets were caused by puberty and late night fantasies. But he probably wouldn’t tell Neji that even though it was common knowledge in Itachi’s circle of friends. 

He broke out of his thoughts when he felt someone draped their arms over his shoulders and pull him backward, but he only realized it was the brunette when his back crashed into a hard, naked chest. His face flushed slightly when he felt Neji’s flaccid cock against his ass. 

“We’re dating,” he heard Neji say, but at that point he had missed too much of their conversation to understand what was going on. In the next second, while under Kyuubi’s and Neji’s scrutiny, the brunette inserted a finger inside him.

He hadn’t expected that nor the moan that flew out of his mouth. His hands slapped over his mouth instantly and his eyes widened in horror. Before he could reach behind and pull Neji’s finger out of him, the brunette had already done so. Sasuke caught the smirk that Neji threw over his shoulder at Kyuubi, and it got worse when he thought it couldn’t have when he felt something warm and sticky trail down his inner thigh and drip down his right leg. His face turned tomato red when he realized that Kyuubi had a fixed stare on his legs.

The scowl on his face slowly morphed into a huge pout when both males refused to look away. “Hey,” he snapped at both of them, “quit looking at me like that. I’m not a piece of meat.”

His statement was followed by Neji’s. “You’re right. Only I should be seeing you like this, babe,” the brunette said, pressing a kiss on his shoulder blade.

“Ouch, stingy,” Kyuubi joined in. “But hey, fantastic taste, Nej. I would have gunned for chibi here, too, if Itachi and I weren’t such good friends.” He winked at the brunette as he gathered Sasuke’s face in his hands. “And you, sweetheart,” he murmured, leaning closer despite Neji’s pointed glare, “you’ve only ever had one boyfriend in your life. What changed your mind?”

Sasuke smiled at the blonde’s concern and blew him a kiss that, from their proximity, was actually a gush of warm breath against the man’s lips. Kyuubi lifted his hand and snatched it up without hesitation and made a show of tucking it in his pocket. Sasuke laughed, finally swatting the man’s hands away. “Neji, it seems.” 

Kyuubi grinned, straightening himself. “I suppose the man does deserve his own category in the refined gentlemen's department. Anyways, I’m beat. Originally, I was thinking about crashing here, but my idiot brother decided it was a fantastic idea to trash the place with a party; then, the cutest boy I know decided to shack up in my room.” He sends Sasuke a mock disapproving glance, and Sasuke stuck his tongue out at the man, which earned him a smirk. “Oh, well, I was planning to crash at Itachi’s tonight anyway. Too loud here to get any sleep. Plus, I need a fresh mind to find new ways to blackmail the kid downstairs.” 

He walked over to the door and slung his duffle bag over his shoulder, stretching out his arms. “Ditch that no-fun caveman behind you and come give me a hug, chibi. I’m leaving,” he told Sasuke, eyes swimming with amusement as the teen slipped out of Neji’s grip and sauntered his way. “Oh, my baby’s growing up so quickly,” he exclaimed when he hugged the teen. “I will see you later at your house, chibi.”

Sasuke nodded and let the man go. “Be safe,” he said, watching Kyuubi step out of the room.

Before he disappeared, however, the blonde looked over at the brunette. “Oh, and Neji? You owe me a bottle of Lagavulin, 1976,” he said, eyeing the nearly empty bottle on his desk. 

Neji nodded, giving into the reasonable demand. “Sure,” he responded casually. “I’ll bring it by when I visit in a couple days.”

“Sounds good.” 

And the man was gone.

Sasuke spun around on his heels and returned to Neji’s side with a small smile even though he could feel a limp settling in. He set his hands on the brunette’s hips and his fingers idly danced along the man’s side. “I’m sore, Neji,” he said, looking up at him. 

“I’m sorry, babe,” Neji replied with that infuriating smirk on his lips. 

“No, you’re not,” Sasuke retorted with a huff, turning his gaze on the man’s hips. “What happened here?” he asked when his eyes narrowed on a scar trailing from Neji’s upper hip to his lower back. It was faint, not easily noticed if one wasn’t searching for it, and it wasn’t particularly long, about the length of Sasuke’s index finger, but it must have drew a decent amount of blood to leave a mark. He felt Neji flinch under his touch and automatically drew his hand back. 

Neji bunched Sasuke’s hands in his and brought them up to his lips, kissing each finger individually. “It’s something of the past,” he said, frowning when the teen’s brows drew together. “Nothing to worry about, babe. It healed a long time ago.” He switched the subject. “Come on, babe, are you hungry? How about we clean up and get some food at the diner a few blocks away?”

Sasuke nodded, reluctantly stepping away from Neji to grab a wet towel from the adjoining bathroom. Ten minutes later, they stepped out of Kyuubi’s room looking as presentable as they could manage. Sasuke tapped out a quick text to Gaara, letting him know that he’d be at the diner three blocks down and going home after, before he shoved his phone into his pocket.

Neji’s car was nowhere to be seen outside and Sasuke didn’t think he could make it a couple blocks for food, nevertheless a half hour walk home. But when Neji stopped in front of a black and silver Ducati Streetfighter and pulled out his keys, a small smile found its way onto Sasuke’s face. “The car wasn’t good enough?” he asked with mirth, reaching for the helmet, but his hand was gently pushed away as Neji secured the helmet over his head. It was basically a deathtrap on two wheels.

“There was heavy traffic when I left home,” Neji replied, shrugging. “I didn’t want someone else to steal you away just because I was a couple minutes too late.”

Sasuke sighed, eyes softening at the explanation. Neji was all kinds of sweet, he’d give him that.  
The Uchiha added ‘smooth talker’ to the neverending list of characteristics belonging to the brunette and eased himself behind Neji on his bike.

They reached the 24-hour diner in no time, choosing a booth in the corner, and Sasuke ordered a basket of fries and a vanilla milkshake while Neji propped his chin on his fist and charmingly told the blushing waiter that he’d just share whatever Sasuke was having. When the waiter collected their menus and rushed off, Neji reached his other hand across the table and laced it with the ravenette’s.

“Something that Kyuubi said has been bugging him,” he confessed after a minute of silence. When he heard Sasuke hum in acknowledgment, he asked, “What did he mean when he said that he didn’t want to overstep boundaries twice?”

Sasuke cocked his head slightly as though in confusion, but the mischievous look in his eyes and his intended silence told a different story. A small part of him told him he was doing it out of bitterness for the waiter who had practically worshipped the air Neji breathed.

“Not going to tell me?” 

Neji looked slightly miffed and Sasuke felt a tickling in the back of his throat because he wanted to laugh. He was jealous, and he didn’t even know what he was jealous of. Geez, it never ceased to amaze him how adorable Neji could get from being riled like that. 

Sasuke continued eyeing him silently, and just when he knew Neji was going to throw his hands in the air and admit defeat, pretend to disregard his own curiosity to save himself from embarrassment, Sasuke cracked a smile, pulling the man forward through their adjoined hands. “When I was younger, we fooled around,” he said. 

Neji frowned. “Meaning?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Nothing serious. I came onto him. He returned it, but backed out; said he couldn’t ruin Itachi and his friendship by sleeping with his little brother.” He should probably also omit the part where he was dragged into a threesome by Gaara with Kyuubi’s little brother. That probably wouldn’t end well.

Sasuke stole a kiss from the brunette when he wasn’t looking and pried their fingers apart when he saw the food coming. “You have nothing to worry about,” he said, before turning away to greet the waiter and missing the beautiful smile that graced the brunette’s face.

The Uchiha stuck two straws into the milkshake and placed it at the center of the table. Then, he poured a ton of ketchup on top of the fries and gave a satisfied grunt when he capped the nearly empty bottle. He was aware of the pretty eyes noting his every move, but he didn’t care because he had three of the greatest things in front of him: fast food, ketchup and Neji. 

He didn’t bother with the fork, using his hands to pick up a ketchup-soaked fry and popping it into his mouth. He didn’t mean to groan, really. He didn’t mean to shut his eyes to savor the food either, but everything was simply perfect for him not to.

“Watching you eat is like watching porn, babe. Has anyone ever told you that?”

The sudden statement nearly caused him to choke, and he was ready to deny such a ridiculous thing, but when he met Neji’s eyes over the tall milkshake glass, all the words died in his throat. His breath hitched and his heart sped as his dark eyes gazed into those bright eyes that brimmed with uninhibited amusement and adoration. 

Sasuke snapped his jaw shut and looked away, but his clean hand found Neji’s on the table. They passed the next few minutes like that- Neji watching Sasuke eat and playing with the teen’s hand and the Uchiha slowly finishing off his fries.

“Stop staring at me,” Sasuke mumbled when he reached over to sip his milkshake.

“Does it make you uncomfortable, babe?”

Sasuke nodded his head slightly, pushing his plate away. He was already full.

“Do you want to know why it makes you uncomfortable?” Neji murmured, brushing his thumb along Sasuke’s knuckles.

“Not really,” he muttered childishly, earning a chuckle from the brunette. 

Neji smiled, but didn’t harp on the subject. “I was thinking though,” he said, voice turning serious, “if your brother is still awake at this time, why don’t we tell him about the Orochimaru business so we can have this weekend to figure it out? The sooner you get it out of your system, the better, right?”

Sasuke frowned at the mention of his perverted Biology teacher, but he knew Neji made a good point. “But Itachi can get scary sometimes when he’s upset,” he said.

“I’ll be with you every step of the way, babe. You don’t need to worry.”

The teen’s frown morphed into a cheeky grin. “So are you my Superman?” he asked.

Neji chuckled, brushing his lips over Sasuke’s knuckles. “I can be if you’d like,” he murmured.

Sasuke grew flustered under the knowing smile and looked away, focusing his attention on the clock that hung at the front of the diner. It read a little past one-twenty. “Itachi usually sleeps around two or two-thirty during the weekend. If we go back now, he’d probably still be awake.”

Without another word, Neji opened his wallet and placed a twenty on the table. He stood and stretched out his hand for Sasuke to grab and pulled him out of the booth once their hands were clasped. They left the diner hand-in-hand. 

And although Neji hadn’t voiced his suspicions to his lover whose presence was prominent next to his, he knew for a fact that, with the overprotective vibes he received from Itachi, the man was probably waiting by the door this entire time. Itachi would be awake all night waiting for Neji’s lover until the moment Sasuke stepped foot back into that house.

If it was for Sasuke, Neji would suck it up and accommodate Itachi, the older brother who Neji knew was hiding something under that disapproving glare.


	7. Part 7

He’d been drinking. 

Excessively.

But Itachi’s definition of excessive was world’s apart from everyone else’s. Whereas the alcohol content flowing through his veins would have knocked out the average person, he was only beginning to feel the effects. And whether he remained sitting in the armchair like he currently was or pacing around the room, his intoxication was hardly visible. The telltale sign that poison was filtering through his blood was his dilating pupils. 

His vision was clear though, and damn it all to Hell, his mind was even clearer-- alert and running a hundred miles an hour. 

It was pitiful what he had been doing since Sasuke had hugged him goodbye, thanking him profusely for letting him go to Naruto’s party, and ran out the front door like he was being chased by hounds. He wouldn’t even let Itachi drive him there, opting to hitch a ride with Gaara.

He supposed that it couldn’t be helped. What was he going to do- lock his baby brother up and forbid him from stepping foot outside for the rest of their lives? As enticing as that sounded, it would have defeated the purpose of Itachi’s inability to fully express his feelings. The degree he went to to protect Sasuke’s social relationships, and hence reputation, would all have been futile.

Teenagers these days, especially at his Otouto’s age, had a flair for new, exciting things.  
They were fueled by simple emotions like anger and hate when they didn’t get their way; the adrenaline pumping through their veins made them practically unstable, and that made them nearly uncontrollable. Not that Itachi wanted to control Sasuke. He loved him, wanted what was best for him, but how could he put Sasuke’s best interests first if he couldn’t control his own urges? 

Pathetic. 

And he thought he had reigned in his emotions quite well. How fucking foolish of him. He wanted to kick himself in the face. 

He had let himself into Sasuke’s room after the teen had left and spent three hours laying in a daze on Sasuke’s bed, memorizing his scent like an infatuated stalker sniffing through some heedless person’s underwear drawer. It was a poor substitute for the rare moments he was able to hold his Otouto in his arms and not berate himself for it, and that depressed Itachi.

He was definitely a masochist, setting these restrictions for himself. What was he to gain from torturing himself like so? A few extra gray hairs, days in the naughty hole, immense unease, and a whole lot of hurt, that's for sure. 

It was ridiculous to think that he’d gain a healthy amount of redemption from his restraint. As if God was so lenient. He was a sinner- the kind that was the lowest of the low, the abnormal deviant who must have been sick in the head. 

And he’d been over this thing with himself over and over again for years, berating himself, punishing himself, denying himself. How much longer did he have to suffer this isolation, this horrendous ache deep within the depths of his heart, for his sins to be annulled or washed away? Hadn’t he suffered enough? 

God’s answer was, of course, “no.” 

Because if the answer had been “yes,” then Itachi would be cleansed of his inappropriate feelings. Because if the answer had been “yes,” then he wouldn’t regret allowing Sasuke out the door to a party that was probably adult-themed. Because if the answer had been “yes,” then Itachi wouldn’t be sitting in the living room at one in the morning, vodka bottle attached to his trembling grip, on the verge of smashing everything in sight. 

And then there was the brunette that suddenly showed up out of nowhere, and his Otouto who seemed to enjoy the brunette’s company, soaking it up like a sponge almost daily. Itachi could guarantee that, on all the days that Sasuke came home late, he’d been with the Hyuga. It pissed him off how the Hyuga was able to easily sweep Sasuke off his feet in a matter of minutes and how natural it was for them to be touching each other in public, with no consideration of the repercussions, because none existed. 

But Itachi and Sasuke… they looked so alike. They were brothers by blood, birthed by the same mother and father. It wasn’t a choice he’d been given, but what was more frustrating to Itachi was that, even if he had been given the choice, he would have chosen to be Sasuke’s Aniki. The idea of Sasuke being raised by another big brother made him crazy with jealousy.

Then, there was that mischievous, gorgeous Otouto of his who left a string of love-struck men behind like old toys. He’d known about Sasuke and Gaara dating when they were younger, the one stable relationship Sasuke had had. The younger Uchiha thought that Itachi didn’t pay attention to him in his youth, but Itachi was always watching. He knew exactly when his Otouto and Gaara broke up, the times he slept with the occasional man when he thought Itachi wasn’t keeping tabs, and even now, when he was strung up on the brunette. The only difference between them was that this time Itachi felt threatened.

He couldn’t pinpoint how exactly he felt threatened and he’d never admit it aloud, but there was something different about the Hyuga that screamed “keeper.” A while back, Itachi had sat Sasuke down and basically ordered his brother to stop sleeping around with random strangers, that it was dangerous, and Sasuke seemed to take it to heart, promising to tone it down. 

The younger ravenette would jump into bed with who he saw fit and would leave right after. One night stands were easier than dealing with all that emotional drama. The point was that he never lingered nor wanted more. So when this Neji person showed up and Sasuke didn’t kick him to the curb in twenty-four hours, Itachi knew there was something more going on. And he hated the ugly green-eyed monster that clawed relentlessly at his chest. 

Itachi wanted the Hyuga gone forever, wanted all of Sasuke’s free time for himself. But what could he do when he already outright rejected his Otouto? Should he say, ‘Ditch the rich, attractive man who has a thing for you and would probably treat you better than I ever could, and come to me instead so I can reject you again, but still keep you by my side’? 

What. The. Fuck. Right? 

Who, in their right mind, would agree to such awful terms? 

But like Itachi said, he felt threatened and that pissed him the fuck off. If they were living in a Spartan era, he’d just beat the living shit out of Neji and all of his problems would disappear. But this wasn't Sparta and he was a refined gentleman who could handle civilized conversations with meddling assholes.

Where the hell was Sasuke anyway? It was nearly two o’clock. If he sat there any longer with those thoughts in his unhinged mind, he’d turn into a fucking lunatic by daybreak.

\- H.J. -

It hadn't been a random fuck, Sasuke realized as he snuggled into Neji's neck from behind. He wasn't usually slow at these things, often recognizing people's intentions revolving around a sexual nature. He was slow this time, however, because what Neji and he did not long ago could easily be categorized as love-making and it only crossed his mind now.

His heart hadn't stopped fluttering since the realization as he held the brunette close during the ride. Was he already smitten? That couldn't have been the case, right?

So deep in thought, he didn't notice that Neji pulled to the curb and had switched off the ignition. That silky voice shuddered him out of his thoughts.

"Babe, we're here," he heard Neji say as his helmet was lifted off. His arms had to be pried away from the man's waist and he blushed under those eyes that lit with amusement. "You're so adorable," Neji teased as he elegantly swung off the bike, making Sasuke's cheeks turn redder. He held out his hand for the boy. "Come on, babe. We have something we need to do. You can hold onto me forever like that after we talk to your brother." He smiled warmly at the ravenette who grumbled and took his hand. 

"That’s not funny," he said, stepping off the bike.

“It shouldn’t be. I wasn’t kidding,” Neji murmured, winking at Sasuke. “Ready?” 

“Nope.” Sasuke popped the ‘p’ in an attempt to ease his anxiety. God, he could feel his hand sweating in Neji’s. 

“I got you, babe,” Neji whispered to him, and then he had to be eased forward with a hand resting against his lower back. “It’s not like we’re telling him we’ve created a love child, and he’s about to be an uncle. It’s just a civilized conversation about what’s happening in your life.”

Sasuke snickered, giving the brunette a small shove against his bicep. “Funny,” he said.

Neji grinned. “I thought so, too.” 

Sasuke took a deep breath and exhaled before pulling out his keys and turning open the lock. He pulled Neji inside when the door was open. As soon as the door was closed and they were reduced to silhouettes in the dark, a small tick sounded from the living room and lights flooded the entire downstairs. Sasuke’s eyes widened in surprise before he tore his hand away from Neji when he saw the scowl settle on Itachi’s face as his eyes dropped down to their entwined fingers. 

Boy, oh boy, was he in trouble. 

Maybe he should have rethought his strategical approach to the entire situation. At least then he wouldn’t have to endure another lecture about late night parties, boys and drinking. Sasuke could already tell that he was going to get one of those later tonight, if Itachi’s disapproving glare was anything to go by. 

Neji followed him into the living room, palm adding gentle pressure to Sasuke’s lower back, and the ravenette allowed it even in front of Itachi’s displeasure. His brother rose, and he noted with a sigh that the bottle he set down next to the lamp was empty. He had just restocked the vodka earlier that day, too. 

“What’s he doing in my house?” Itachi asked rudely, glaring at the brunette. His gaze briefly flickered to Neji’s arm on Sasuke and his face hardened. 

Sasuke had a distinct urge to dart to the other side of the room to avoid the heavy crossfire as Neji and Itachi glared daggers at each other, but he stood his ground and cleared his throat as quietly as he could. “Aniki, I have something to tell you,” he said, pulling Itachi’s calculating gaze away from the brunette. 

“If it has anything to do with this man here, Sasuke, I don’t want to hear it,” Itachi responded, spitting this man like Neji was the devil in disguise. 

Sasuke’s resolute posture wavered in favor of a protruding frown and he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. “His name’s Neji, Itachi, and I wasn’t going to talk about him. I wanted to tell you something else, but I don’t want you to get upset.”

Itachi exhaled harshly, angrily, wary eyes darting to Neji’s briefly before they settled back on Sasuke’s pleading eyes that asked him to understand. “If that’s the case, we can talk about it later.” 

Sasuke’s frown deepened. “But I--” 

“Not now, Otouto,” Itachi said in a clipped no-nonsense tone. “Go upstairs. I’ll talk to you later.” 

Itachi’s steady gaze fell on Neji’s, and in between Sasuke’s protests, a rivalry of sorts transferred between their battling gazes. A stalemate, it was. Finally, Itachi broke the contest and held out a graceful hand for Sasuke. “Be good, Otouto,” he coaxed. “Come,” he commanded and requested all at once in that soft, nurturing voice that he knew Sasuke could never deny. He saw the conflict in the boy’s eyes as he looked between the Hyuga standing next to him and Itachi’s pale hand. 

Hesitantly, he took Itachi’s outstretched hand, but not before Neji gave him a kiss on his lips and said goodnight to him. Itachi was willing to push down the jealousy suffocating him because Sasuke chose him over the brunette and came to stand in front of him. “Go upstairs, Otouto. I’ll come in a few minutes, okay?”

Sasuke nodded slowly and mouthed an apology to Neji over Itachi’s shoulder, reminding the brunette of the first time Itachi tore him away from Sasuke at the club. He nodded briefly and sent a small smile, and with that, the teen disappeared up the stairs. 

“Again, what the fuck are you doing in my house, Hyuga?” Itachi’s hiss drew the man’s gaze away from his little brother’s retreating back.

Neji smirked, arms folded casually across his torso. “You know, initially, I thought Sasuke needed support to tell you something unfortunate that’s been happening in his life. I thought you were being the protective older brother, watching out for him because you were worried that he might be going out with some stranger, but I just realized that’s not the case.” 

Itachi’s glare burned into Neji as he wished death upon the man. “What kind of shit are you spouting?”

Neji’s casual voice hardened into stone. “The way you look at him beneath all that anger,” he barked. “I was wrong. It’s a good front, though, Uchiha- the big brother act. I almost fell for it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His denial forced a chuckle out of Neji. “You’re not just overprotective, Uchiha. You’re jealous. And it’s most certainly because of me since we’ve yet to establish a civil conversation since we’ve known each other. And I’m quite sure you have no feelings for me, so that leaves Sasuke. You have ill feelings for him. I wouldn’t be looking out for him if I didn’t warn you to keep those pesky emotions to yourself, because if you broadcast them, you’ll be harming him, intentionally or not.” 

“You don’t know anything about how I feel,” Itachi spat, fisting the front of Neji’s t-shirt, eyes blazing in unrepressed rage. 

Neji’s eyes narrowed. “You keep your fucking paws off my boyfriend, Uchiha. Don’t you dare defile him with your tainted mind. I trust him, will have him no matter what, but I don’t fucking like you.”

Itachi’s fist smashed into Neji’s cheek. The caliber of the punch could easily take down an 180 pound man, but Neji accepted it with a mere stumble, cheek jerking right from the force. 

He laughed as he snapped his head back and used his thumb to collect the drop of blood at the corner of his mouth. “I’ll give you that one. I won’t be so kind the next time around.” 

Itachi’s heaving chest and wild eyes made Neji cock his head. “Why are you getting so worked up? Hit a nerve, did I?”

“He will forever love me,” Itachi said through clenched teeth, fists shaking at his side. 

“Sure he will,” Neji concurred. “But I know I can make him happy. You, on the other hand, will never have that chance. You’re his brother, for goodness sake. It’s just a heartbreak waiting to happen if you continue, Uchiha.” 

“Fuck you.” It was a cold reply, filled with undeniable hostility.

Neji sighed, stuffing his hands in his back pockets. “Just... don’t betray his trust. I can see that he worships you.” He was met with silence, and he blew out another breath, this one with less heat. “Now, I’m going to go say goodnight to my boyfriend. You can either fight me for it or glare at me as I walk upstairs, but I doubt Sasuke would like it very much to see us fighting.”

The brunette noticed how Itachi’s gaze was on the floor as his body trembled with what he believed was anger. He was almost sympathetic. If unrequited love sucked, then forbidden love was the mad bitch in disguise from Hell. 

“I’ll let you in on a little secret, Uchiha,” he said, halfway up the stairs. He didn’t turn back to look at Itachi, but he knew the man was listening. “I can really see myself falling for Sasuke. If you wanted to know what my ill intentions are, I have none. He’s already a very precious person in my life, and I’d protect him with my life. ” 

\- H.J. -

“Aniki!” Sasuke yelled when Itachi stepped into the room, swinging the covers off of himself. He was still wearing the same clothes, having been too nervous to change. Sasuke was ready to get up, but the older Uchiha motioned for him to stay in bed as he shut the door behind him. The teen made room for Itachi when he realized he was going to sit down at the edge of his bed.

When Itachi didn’t automatically begin talking, Sasuke’s bit his lip anxiously. “Is everything okay?” he asked quietly, resting a hand on top of Itachi’s, which were resting in his lap. He felt his brother’s hands twitch beneath his and just when he was about to retract his, he found his hand clasped in Itachi’s two big ones. “What’s wrong?” he asked, crawling forward on his knees and nudging the elder with his shoulder. Sasuke rested his bum against his feet, wincing at the sharp pain shooting up his spine from his sore bum.

After what seemed like ages, Itachi broke out of his thoughts and shattered the uncomfortableness with words that almost sounded strained if he had not rehearsed beforehand. “What did you want to tell me, Otouto?” he asked, turning his vacant gaze onto Sasuke’s wide, worried ones. 

The expression floored Sasuke, sent him into a frenzy, as he dipped closer frantically in concern. “What happened, Itachi? Neji came in and his face was bruised, and I thought you’d be angry, but you look- you look so dead.” 

“Nothing to worry about,” Itachi said vaguely, affectionately patting one of Sasuke’s cheeks with a hand. Sasuke frowned and pulled his hand down with his free one, placing both their hands in Itachi’s lap.

“Fine,” he relented with a pout after sifting through Itachi’s face for some kind of emotion, earning him a small smile from his brother. Sasuke gave himself a pat on the back inside; he knew his pout always worked wonders on Itachi. 

“Tell me, Otouto. What did you need to talk about?”

“Oh,” Sasuke mumbled. “That.” He pulled away from Itachi and averted his eyes subtly. “How about we talk about that tomorrow? It’s already pretty late, Aniki.”

“Don’t change the subject, Sasuke,” Itachi chided, hands turning cold and lonely on his thighs. He fisted them to refrain from doing something stupid like reaching over and pulling the teen in for a kiss to erase any traces the Hyuga may have left behind. It troubled Itachi as he wondered just how far they had taken their relationship. “That was a poor attempt at diverting my attention by the way,” he teased, receiving another pout in return.

“Shut it, Aniki.” 

“Talk to me, Otouto. What’s so important that you had to tell me it in front of an outsider?”

The teen looked up from his clammy hands. “Oh, well, you know I love you, right, Itachi?” A half-assed attempt at a smile graced Sasuke’s lips, disappearing when he received the warning look from the older Uchiha. “Um, you know how sometimes I attract weird people?” 

God, it was such a delicate situation. How the hell was he supposed to tell his big brother that some creep who worked at his school was molesting and stalking him during and after hours?

“What of it, Otouto?” Itachi asked, voice somewhat strained, and Sasuke knew he was expecting the worse. He gulped, ducking his head. What was he going to say-- ‘Itachi, I baked you some of those chocolate chip cookies you like so much. Oh, by the way, my Biology teacher is massively infatuated with me to the point he’s making dirty eyes at me during class and following me after school’? 

Yeah, like that’d end well.

Geez, he was looking to inform the man, not commit suicide. Invariably, he sucked at explaining these things, always relying on Itachi’s powers of deduction for his successful attempts. 

He blew out a breath and made eye contact with the man who, although looked like a ticking time bomb, patiently waited for him to speak. “I’m having trouble at school, Aniki,” he began, noticing the furrow of Itachi’s brows, “because one of my teachers is making me uncomfortable.”

“Is it a man or woman?” Itachi jumped in, words coming out rigid as if he was gritting his teeth. 

“Man,” Sasuke said, voice dropping to a whisper; ashamed.

He felt the bed shift, and Itachi was in front of him the next second, palms holding onto his shoulders and knees trapping Sasuke’s outstretched legs. “Are you telling me he’s been touching you inappropriately, Otouto?” Itachi demanded, anger bleeding into his voice. 

Sasuke nodded slowly, relieved that he didn’t really have to explain much further. He loved Itachi, he really did, for reading his mind, for being there for him, for providing support whenever he needed it, and for watching over him and raising him at the age where most teens were off the reservation, himself included. 

He winced when he felt the arms tighten on his shoulders, and he stared into Itachi’s abnormally dark eyes. “Who is he?” Those three words held so much bloodshed, a deadly threat that wasn’t empty in any sense of the word. 

“Orochimaru. He’s my biology teacher.”

“How long has this been going on?” Itachi pressed, eyes flickering left and right as he read the boy’s emotions as if he was reading an open book.

“A while. At first, it wasn’t really bad. He’d just stare at me a lot or single me out in class, but then he began giving me detention after school for silly reasons, and a couple days ago I realized he followed me to the market.” It was odd for Sasuke to explain these things to his brother. He felt squirmy under Itachi’s undivided attention, and he just wanted to crawl under his blankets and die of embarrassment. 

“Earlier this week?” Itachi’s face dipped into a heavy frown, frozen between anger and disappointment. “Why didn’t you tell me when it happened, Sasuke? Didn’t you promise me that you’d call me if anything bad happened?”

“I- yeah,” Sasuke mumbled, “but I didn’t want it to end badly, Aniki. I just want it to stop.”

Itachi, Sasuke knew, was not above violence. In fact, he had a history of solving problems pertaining to the teen with his fists.They had gone trick-or-treating one October when Sasuke was eleven and Itachi was sixteen. Itachi had been disgruntled as their mother had dumped Sasuke in his lap so that they would play nice. 

A younger version of Sasuke had wandered off to the next house when Itachi wasn’t paying attention, throwing a silent fit because it was obvious his brother loathed standing next to him. The man who opened the door was in his early thirties, and when he saw Sasuke, he smiled, told him to wait while he disappeared to grab his bowl of candy, and he had obliged, humming a lullaby while he waited, but as soon as he diverted his attention, he was grabbed and dragged into the house.

Kicking and screaming, he managed to stumble out of the man’s grip, but he tripped and crashed into the edge of the coffee table, which caused his nose to bleed. He started crying hysterically as the man advanced, the look in the stranger’s eyes beyond his comprehension at the time; he later figured out it was lust. 

Itachi must have seen his candy pail tossed carelessly on the front steps of the house and heard his screams, because next thing he knew, his brother was breaking down the door. The look on Itachi’s face when he assessed the situation was something he wished he never saw again in his life-- it was filled with rage, murderous and barbaric. It turned out he had rung the doorbell of a pedophile who was recently released from prison. His Aniki beat the man within an inch of his life, until the old man was reduced to a crying, boneless mess, tucked Sasuke in his arms and walked them home.

But presently, perhaps Itachi had taken Sasuke’s worries the wrong way because he looked grim. “Are you… scared of me, Otouto?” he asked as if he was hesitant to hear the answer to his own question, scooting away and repositioning himself, legs outstretched, next to the teen. 

“Of course not!” Sasuke replied vehemently. “I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

Itachi rolled that thought in his head for a good minute as he cracked his neck and rotated his shoulders for comfort. Face nonchalant, he leaned back and rested his spine against the headboard. “I could just kill him and end it before it gets any worse,” he mused.

He was so ridiculously composed when he said it that Sasuke took it seriously, judging from his agape jaw and wide eyes. At least he now knew the lengths Itachi would go through to protect him. Itachi cracked a smirk, ruffling the teen’s head. “Just kidding,” he said, noticing the instant relief flooding into his tense body. 

Itachi waved Sasuke closer with a gentle hand, biting away a smile when he noticed his Otouto’s wary eyes settling on him before he obliged and climbed into his lap. 

Sasuke set his hands on Itachi’s shoulders to steady himself. “I’ll take care of it. I’ll protect you, my young, beautiful Otouto,” he murmured, a light taunt creeping into his words despite the truth in the statement.

“It’s not my fault I attract creeps!” Sasuke retorted.

“I know,” Itachi replied, bringing the boy toward his chest. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke and tugged playfully at the strands of hair brushing the teen’s neck. Then, the elder Uchiha pulled back and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Now, why don’t you go take a shower and head to bed.”

Sasuke’s jaw dropped open. “That’s it?” he asked incredulously.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. “Were you expecting something else?”

“N-no, but I thought you’d be more angry. Maybe lecture me about bringing Neji home or not telling you about my teacher earlier.”

“Do you want me to get more angry, Sasuke?”

“No!” Sasuke said sharply, lightly bouncing in Itachi’s lap when he abruptly shouted it out. “Not at all!” He chuckled humorously and slid off his brother’s thighs, grabbing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts from his closet. “I love you, Aniki!” he said, grinning cheekily as he made his best imitation of a drag queen and blew an air kiss. Laughing when he saw amusement swimming across Itachi’s expression, he ran down the hall and slammed the bathroom door shut. 

When Itachi heard the click, he left the inviting bed and sauntered to his room. He picked up his cell phone and flipped through his contacts until he found the one he was searching for. It took one ring for the man on the other end to pick up. 

“Ah, pleasure, Itachi-san. What requires my attention so late in the night?”

Prompt and focused. He liked that about Kakashi Hatake. He rarely called the man, so when he did, the man knew it was important.

“Kakashi, how well do you know Orochimaru?”

“That slimy, two-faced carnivore?” Kakashi asked in his light, smiling voice, but there was definitely a bite to it. “What would you like to know?” 

“I want every little piece of dirt you can dig up on him. I don’t care how you do it. Just make it happen. Start by talking to Kisame. He’s my eyes and ears in the police force; tell him I sent you.”

“Sure thing.”

“And I need you to put a security detail on Sasuke starting Monday. Someone trustworthy. Orochimaru seems to have taken an interest in him, and it’s not possible for me to watch him twenty-four hours a day.”

“Does this interest take on a sexual nature?” Kakashi murmured, thoughtful.

Itachi stiffened, his hand tightening on the electronic device in his hand. 

“Enough said,” Kakashi replied when the elder Uchiha didn’t respond right away. “Consider it done.”

“Oh, and Kakashi? Watch out for him at school, will you?”

“I’ll do my best,” the man hummed, ending the call.

And that was that. For now. Four hours later, Itachi was climbing out of bed, slipping on his gym shorts and tossing on a black singlet, and leaving for a workout at six in the morning, only dawdling briefly to watch his Otouto sleep from the bedroom entrance. 

He drove there almost aimlessly, mood dampened by the conversations that took place earlier and mind struggling to take it all in. His thoughts leaked into his workout-- the kickboxing, although less focused, was brutal; the pullups and pushups were overdone, punishing; and he nearly pulled a muscle on the weightlifting by overexertion . Exercising was supposed to be his personal, non-emotional haven, but he’d just turned it into torture for himself.

When he reemerged from the place, the sun was already shining brightly outside. Duffel bag slung over one shoulder, he fondled with his keys as he walked through the parking lot. His body was sore and his mind was slackened until something on the windshield of his sleek car caught his attention. 

It didn’t look like much at first glance, could have been an ad if he’d seen it from afar, but up close it was anything but. A yellow envelope sat innocently on his windshield, held into place from its position beneath the wiper. After a hesitant minute, Itachi’s reached out and relieved the item from his car; then, he stepped into his car, closed the door and inspected it. 

He tore the envelope open without vigor as a feeling of unease crept up his spine, taunting him. Tilting the package, he dumped the contents into the passenger seat and something squared, hard and transparent came into sight. 

A CD casing. Complete with a silver, circular disc inside.

Itachi’s eyes narrowed on the words written on it, curiosity and nausea wafting through his senses. 

For your viewing pleasure.

The words were inscribed rather elegantly as if an adult with years of penmanship practice had wrote it, the o’s finished off with a curl at the top center like a tuft of a baby’s hair curling on the forehead.

He made sure to not make direct contact with it as he tossed the item back into its original packaging, leaving it on the seat as he drove home with more anxiety than when he left. Questions swarmed his mind as he reflexively gripped the steering wheel. Who slipped that envelope to him and why? Did they have the wrong person? Most importantly, what was on that CD? Incriminating pictures, data, audio files? 

Itachi parked less than stellar in the driveway, forgetting about the duffel bag that held his gym equipment, and made a beeline for the house, envelope in hand. He let himself in the house, tossing his keys into the bowl adjacent to the door, and entered his office. From the silence resonating through the place, he knew Sasuke was still asleep. A quick glance at his laptop when he opened it told him it was a little after nine. 

With practiced ease, he maneuvered the cloth he used to clean his glasses to open the casing and pick up the CD, uncertainly pushing it into his Macbook. The screen was blank at first as the CD readied itself to be played. It forced a trainload of thoughts through Itachi’s mind in those seconds he sat there, back pressed stiffly against his leather chair and fingers restless on the arm of his seat.

Finally, footage appeared on the blank screen, a video of sorts filmed from a terrible location, and Itachi could do nothing but watch powerlessly as two very familiar people showed up on screen. His throat suddenly grew parched like he’d been malnourished and living off of desert plants for weeks. He felt his blood drain from his flushed cheeks, his windpipe crushed with despair, his fingers tingling as a slow onset of rage and lunacy set in, rising steadily from his gut.

‘N-neji! Oh, fuck, Neji!’

‘So fucking good. I knew you’d taste fucking good here, too.’

‘I want a kiss, Neji.’

‘You’re so beautiful, babe. So fucking beautiful.’

‘Finger me. Please.’

‘First time?’

‘Hardly.’

‘N-nej- N-Neji, G-god, it’s so fucking big.’

‘Y-yeah, baby, almost there. Just a couple more inches. Fuck, you feel like heaven.’

‘I- I feel so fucking f-full, Neji. I feel so full.’

‘You’re so fucking tight, babe. You’re mine.’

‘I’m yours. Cum inside me… It’s so hot inside.’

The video ended abruptly, but to be fair, Itachi had stopped listening minutes ago. All he could see, all he could think about, were those hands all over Sasuke, touching the boy in places that Itachi could only dream about, fingers caressing his Otouto like they belonged on his body.

But they didn’t. 

A huge part of him was fuming with jealousy, while the other side of him was brimming with enough rage to make the Furies look like child’s play. He wanted to find the Hyuga and break his pretty face with brass knuckles. The most fucking ridiculous thing was that he should have been angry at himself- he was the one who rejected his Otouto, and if Sasuke wasn’t his, then in theory he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

But his mind couldn’t process this piece of information fast enough. Not when, in one swoop, he had shoveled all the contents on his desk, including the laptop, onto the ground, kicking away his chair and slamming his knuckles into the wooden surface until the wood splintered. Not when he swung open the door and stomped upstairs like a deranged hunter on the prowl. 

His brain told him this was a bad idea. That a hotheaded Itachi was known for doing stupid things. That he should just get into his car and drive away to cool off in some unknown location. That opening the bedroom door to a frazzled Sasuke rubbing his sleepy eyes was a no-go zone because he was going to get physical.

But stupid him didn’t listen. Itachi merely slammed the door shut, astonishing Sasuke, as he stalked toward him in utter wrath. 

“Aniki, you okay?” came Sasuke’s wary voice, still hoarse from his night’s sleep. 

The reality was Itachi was not okay. Any attempt thereafter to kill his anger backfired and he might as well have been a serial killer. He yanked the blankets off him, and Sasuke looked vaguely uncomfortable. Though to be fair, he hadn’t seen half of the destruction Itachi was about to cause.

“Turn over,” he demanded.

“What?”

Itachi didn’t have time for that shit. He dragged Sasuke over to the side of the bed, pushed his shoulders down and rolled him over, keeping a tight grip on his hip with one hand as his other pulled down the boy’s shorts in one clean swoop. He dropped them carelessly on the floor, too distracted by the his intentions to pry Sasuke apart and find the answers he was looking for.

“Itachi! Are you crazy? What the fuck are you doing?” He swore he heard Sasuke scream his name repeatedly as his body squirmed and wiggled underneath his grip. With a heated glare in the teen’s direction, he pushed Sasuke’s hips into the mattress, pulled him onto his knees and pried his pale cheeks open with a bruising grip.

And there it was. 

That tight, little hole that was supposed to be his. Still red, bruised and loosely puckered as if-- as if someone had recently defiled it with something large and left his mark because, by God, it was still twitching and looked like it could easily close up on two of his digits and Jesus Christ Itachi was mentally freaking the fuck out while he physically lashed out in the shittiest way possible. 

He hit Sasuke. Spanked him, his rough palm coming down hard on his fragile flesh. His wide gaze followed his hand as if he couldn’t believe that it was acting on its own, but after that first sound of flesh on flesh rang in his ears, and he saw the red handprint on Sasuke’s ass, felt the flesh jiggle underneath his fingers, something inside Itachi cracked and shattered into dust.

His hand came down harder and his lips lifted into a snarl. “How could you let him fuck you?” he asked, the accusation hanging inhibited and rugged and hurt in the air like someone had slammed a jackhammer into his weak heart and laughed when it stuttered and beated no more.

“GET OFF ME, ITACHI!” Sasuke screeched, panicking with tears streaming down his face, as he was dragged onto his brother’s thighs where the spanking continued. “Why are you doing this to me? I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Another loud smack resonated through the room, and Itachi watched as the boy bit his lips to muffle a sob. That one was harder than the other ones, and he tilted his head as his left hand pressed against the boy’s back to keep him in place while his violent one ran along Sasuke’s reddened ass. 

“Was it good?” he asked, tone deadened to Sasuke’s ears. “Was he good?” The blunt tips of his fingernails raked down Sasuke’s ass, causing welts to rise almost instantaneously under his whacked out gaze. There was even a touch of blood pooling above the welts.

“Stop it! That hurts, you asshole!” the younger ravenette cried, trying to arch away from the touch, but Itachi’s piercing nails were relentless.

“ANSWER ME, UCHIHA SASUKE!” Itachi roared, spine poised higher as he screamed, before his voice lowered to a low octave, barely above a whispered threat, as he stared into the incredulous gaze Sasuke was throwing at him. “Was. He. Good.” 

His attitude must have broken something in Sasuke because his eyes hardened, and his mouth was snapping open before he had any control over it. “Yes! He was good,” he hissed. “Over-the-moon fan-fucking-tastic. Not that it’s any of your business.”

Itachi blinked and his mouth dipped slightly open as though he hadn’t expected that reply, and Sasuke took the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of catching his brother off guard to stumble out of his hold. He snatched his shorts from the ground and was at the door and dressed (wincing and all) before Itachi could register the meaning of his words. 

“You listen here, Aniki.” He spat the word mockingly, as if Itachi had no power to wield the title any longer, as if he didn’t deserve it. “I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you this morning, and frankly I don’t give two shits because, in spite of how you are feeling at the moment, you have absolutely no right to lay your hands on me like that.”

The words struck something in Itachi, and as he stood, he struggled to figure out what was happening and why. Because surely, Sasuke wasn’t insinuating that he could have Child Services in their home within a blink of an eye. He took a step toward the strong, albeit traumatized teenager who was glaring daggers at him.

“Don’t you dare take another step closer,” Sasuke whispered heatedly as he angrily swept away his tears with the back of his hands. “How could I? How could I? How could you?!” He screamed, fists trembling against his thighs. “You kept saying you were going to protect me, that there were scary people out there and the safest place was right next to you, but how can you say that when you’re the one hurting me?!” 

An incredulous laugh flew out of his lips, darkened from all that teeth-gnashing during his spanking. “What exactly am I to you, Itachi, huh? Because let me tell you, I’m not some two cent whore with no sense of self-respect! I know what I’m doing with my body, and if it’s some kind of mistake, which you obviously think it is, to sleep with someone I’m seeing exclusively, then let me make that goddamn mistake because let’s get one thing straight; I’m not going to stand here and be your punching bag just because you don’t like Neji.”

Itachi’s features wavered and he swallowed the lump in his throat, fingers outstretched as if he had something to say. 

“And that’s not even half the story,” Sasuke continued, exhaling shakily. “I can take the physical pain. I can take the hitting or spanking or whatever the hell you want to call it, and the scratching and the bleeding and anything you throw at me, but I just- I really just can’t take these secrets you have. You continuously bottle everything up and explode on me when you can’t control it anymore. Do you even trust me anymore, Itachi? Am I not trustworthy to you?” The bitter words left his mouth tasting like acid, and Sasuke had to bite onto the inside of his cheek to control the betrayal evident on his countenance. 

Itachi looked like he’d just ate something sour, as if Sasuke’s words had literally slapped him across the face. Sasuke heaved an angry sigh, turning to leave. He couldn’t take this, could deal with this, right now. His features grew impassive, but there was still an angry bite in his next words.

“When you realize how fucking ridiculous your behavior is for a change, feel free to come find me. And I swear to God, Itachi, if you follow me right now, I’m never coming home again. You can kiss whatever the fuck you think it is we have here goodbye.” 

And he was hastily leaving the room, running down the hall and footsteps thundering down the stairs as if he couldn’t get away from Itachi fast enough. And honestly, he couldn’t. They needed some space and if Itachi was unwilling to break away from Sasuke, then he’d have to do it himself. 

He didn’t see the way Itachi’s form crumpled to the ground when he left, back hitting the side of the mattress and head bowing in defeat. If Sasuke had looked back, perhaps… perhaps, he would have seen the foreign tears parting from the elder Uchiha’s eyes and sliding down the valley of his cheeks. 

Perhaps, if Sasuke wasn’t so angry and Itachi wasn’t so fucked up that he couldn’t even utter a single phrase to save his life, the teen would have realized that Itachi was crying for the first time in his adult life. 

They were small tears, brief, pooling under his chin and dripping hazardly into his lap, but they were clear as day. And it was pathetic and pitiful and wretched, and the pain felt worse than having his heart ripped from his chest and eyes gouged out, and he just couldn’t deal.

Itachi felt bitter, nauseatingly bitter and miserable. And all of this was brought to light because he was stupid enough to fall in love with his little brother.


	8. Part 8

It was a bad idea to leave the house without anything. 

Sasuke had no money, his phone was still sitting on his nightstand and his keys had been conveniently abandoned in the living room. Not smart at all. So as he was left wandering the streets, his mind worked fast to conjure a gameplan. 

Where did Itachi least likely expect him to be? Gaara’s house was a no-go; not only was Temari and Kankuro there, but Sasori was there, and Sasuke just wasn’t so sure if the man would relay that message to Itachi. Even if he had told Itachi to find him when he pulled his head out of his ass, he wasn’t going to make it particularly easy for the man.

And then there was Neji’s place, which was God-knows-where. But he shouldn’t. He didn’t know Neji’s living situation and he would certainly hate to impose, not that he currently had that option because he’d never heard a peep out of the brunette that hinted of the location of his dwelling. 

His best bet was probably Kyuubi’s house- the man was rather fond of him, his parents were out of town, and Naruto happened to be a rather good friend of his. Besides, should Kyuubi turn him away in some sort of loyal pact with Itachi, Sasuke could always explain the predicament to him- hell, he’d show him his raw bottom as proof; he was a reasonable man. He hadn’t seen the elder Uzumaki on his way out the door, leading him to believe the early bird had returned home to mess with the younger drunk and indisposed blonde. 

The Uzumaki house was about another ten minutes off, and it hadn’t taken Sasuke more than a few minutes after his adrenaline died to notice the limping. The familiar soreness was one thing, but his shorts were chaffing his tender flesh, and he was pretty sure there was a smidgen of caked blood on them by now. 

Despite the lack of appropriate, normal day attire, he noticed the way cars slowed down with what he hoped wasn’t interest as they approached and passed him. He huffed, peeved, and shoved his hands into his pockets as he rounded the corner of a nice neighborhood. About halfway down the residential district, he finally reached his destination. 

It didn’t take long for someone to open the door after he rung the doorbell. It was Kyuubi, which hadn’t been a surprise because Sasuke had seen the way Naruto was working that handle of vodka last night, and he gave a half-hearted wave like he couldn’t be bothered with words. His forlorn appearance must have been alarming because whatever humor Kyuubi was nursing before he opened the door vanished and his lips pulled into a frown. 

“What’s crackalackin, chibi?” the blonde asked, allowing the teen to fall into his arms without hesitation.

“Don’t tell Itachi,” he pleaded, his very first words since the argument. Dammit.This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. “Don’t tell him I’m here. Please.” His voice cracked on the spot until he was being shushed by Kyuubi and hustled past an unconscious Naruto on the couch and upstairs into a master bedroom that Sasuke knew too well.

He also knew the look on Kyuubi’s face the moment he set eyes on Sasuke at his doorstep. There was no spark of surprise, no semblance of a question in the man’s eyes. And if he knew his brother, which to be fair he did to a certain extent when it came to worrying over Sasuke, Itachi was sure to have already phoned Kyuubi to be his lookout. 

The elder blonde pulled out his desk chair and swung it around, gesturing for him to take a seat. Reluctantly, Sasuke shook his head and as his fingers clutched onto Kyuubi’s front, it finally registered in his mind how much his legs were shaking. 

“Shit,” he heard Kyuubi mutter under his breath. “That stupid asshat didn’t tell me about this.”

And it took Kyuubi a bottle of antiseptics, a big pile of cotton balls, a strawberry popsicle from his secret stash, and nearly an hour to calm the frantic boy down. For someone like him, who had a hard time tolerating anybody’s shitfest, he had to give himself a pat on the back.

\- H.J. -

“What do you want?” Kyuubi asked, annoyed. The door was propped ajar, but the available space was shielded by his body. 

“I’m assuming the shift in behavior between the last time I saw you and now means that Sasuke is here with you?” Contrary to the snarkiness the statement invited, Itachi’s forlorn expression increased the irritation that Kyuubi was feeling. 

It had been quite a few hours since the incident if the darkness outside was anything to go by. He was surprised the man had waited that long before knocking on his door. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His answer was short, clipped, as if he didn’t want anything to do with the man. And for good reason because Itachi knew that he wasn’t the most patient man on the block. In fact, he had always been quick to irritation and, worse, anger, but he had always managed to curb it for Sasuke. However, as they grew older and Sasuke became more outgoing and sexual, Itachi gradually grew more anxious about what that held for their future together or lack thereof. And this Neji person was the manifestation of all that Itachi feared; loneliness, emptiness, his sanity. Sasuke was so taken with him; the boy practically melted in the man’s presence, and that made Neji a threat. 

Of course Itachi being Itachi thought it was a fantastic idea to physically abuse the only individual that he cared about in order to regain control of the situation. Naturally, just like all things he touched, he broke it.

“I need to see him, Kyuubi.” He hoped his tone was firm enough to warrant acquiescence, but from the raised eyebrow he got from the blonde, he knew the man probably heard his pleading undertone.

“Can’t see what isn’t here.” Another clipped answer. This time with boredom embedded.

Itachi’s heart dropped. He needed to see his Otouto so that he could smooth things over; he needed to tell the boy that he was beyond apologetic and that his actions were the result of misguided intentions; and that, never in the bane of his existence, did he want Sasuke to be frightened of or hide from him. Itachi needed to reassure him that his love was unconditional, and his minor lapse of judgment did not change that.

And even though he knew what he needed, Itachi wasn’t stupid enough to ignore what Sasuke blatantly needed now: space. He was aware that the boy didn’t want to see his face or hear his voice or be in the same room with him, and Itachi needed to take a deep breath and take a step back to honor it.

“Just tell me that he’s okay.” His eyes darted over Kyuubi’s shoulders and caught a glimpse of the wooden stairwell, before the man blocked his view by propping an arm on the door. 

“Who is this ‘he’ you’re referring to?” 

Confusion painted the man’s words, and Itachi knew that he wasn’t going to get anything out of Kyuubi so he resigned to his fate and backed off. 

“I’m sorry, Otouto,” he called out, hoping that the boy was somewhere behind that closed door and was listening in and laughing inwardly at how pathetic his voice came out. 

-H.J.-

“You’re ruthless. I should be more like you.” The somber words were accompanied by a small smile.

“That man needs to be put in his place sometimes. If you allow him back in your good graces with a simple apology and a puppy dog look, then he’ll never learn,” Kyuubi ridiculed, waving off Sasuke’s words. Only he could diss Itachi in a normal fashion without any feeling of remorse or fear of backlash. 

“You know, you didn’t seem surprised when I showed up earlier. I thought it was because Itachi called you to be his lookout,” Sasuke said, leaning his hip against the staircase railing. 

Kyuubi mirrored his actions, propping his back against the main door. He stuffed his hands into his sweats as an angled knee allowed him to prop his foot against the frame. “Pfft. As if I’d cater to his whims. I’m not an enabler. I only knew because that brother of yours is a fucking idiot and a master of his own shitty fate.” 

Sasuke tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

It seemed like Kyuubi was editing out the explanation in his head as he debated whether to clarify his response, but the light chime that rang through the house put an end to their conversation and steered their attention to the door. 

With an arched brow, Kyuubi pushed himself off the door with a finger pressed against his lips in a shush. He peered through the peephole for a second before he threw a monster grin over his shoulder at Sasuke, prompting the boy’s own arched brow. 

“Who is it?” Sasuke asked, descending down the last flight of stairs in hopes of getting a peek. Given the change in attitude, he assumed it was not his brother once more… unless Kyuubi was bipolar.

In a dramatic display that would have driven any normal person to hide in fear of being connected to a total geek, the man swung the door wide open nearly smacking Sasuke in the face and proclaimed loud and proud, “Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door!” with open arms.

Silence greeted the words, so Kyuubi extended a single arm as if he was Romeo and continued much to Sasuke’s embarrassment. “Some late night visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door!” 

More silence.

“That is it and nothing more!” 

“Wow.” 

Sasuke stopped mid-temple rub as the person at the door finally spoke. 

“I’m surprised you have friends.”

The familiar, sultry voice wafted through the air and filled Sasuke’s ears like a melody. He peeked out from behind the door to confirm the man’s identity, which honestly wasn’t necessary if his heart thudding against his ribcage was any indication. 

His eyes feasted on the sturdy, tall gentleman standing in front of Kyuubi who looked as if he was shifting between amusement and nonchalance. It was his chocolate brown locks and bright eyes that stood out to Sasuke at first glance, followed by his regal elegance no matter what he wore. 

His mouth had a hard time catching up with his eyes as he perused the length of the man’s body. Why was it so easy for Neji to command Sasuke’s attention, especially without even knowing he did such a thing? Sasuke would have scoffed if he wasn’t so busy staring. 

Kyuubi had brushed off the comment without so much of a huff and pulled the bottle of Lagavulin out the brunette’s hands. “I’m assuming that’s mine,” he said. Quite stealthily, as he inspected the bottle, his other arm shot out to collect Sasuke from behind the door and fluidly ushered him into Neji’s arms with a quick push and a permanent smirk etched on his face. “And I’m assuming this is yours.” 

With a yelp, Sasuke collided against Neji’s chest. Neji, who he never doubted had good reflexes, caught him in his arms with a hint of surprise coloring his eyes. 

“You kids have fun!” Kyuubi chimed, as he left the door partially open and sauntered into the kitchen in search of dinner. 

Sasuke immediately buried his face in the brunette’s chest and gripped tightly onto the man’s T-shirt. Neji smelled of vanilla and lavender and all that was calming in the world. 

“Babe, hey,” Neji said softly, bringing his arms around the boy’s waist. He started stroking Sasuke’s back. “I’ve been trying to reach you all day.” At his silence, Neji continued. “I thought you were avoiding me.”

Sasuke shook his head vehemently against his chest and gripped tighter. “Itachi and I had a fight,” he mumbled. “He hurt me, and I ran away.” 

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry to hear that. Let me see you.” Neji pried the boy from his body and lightly grasped onto his face with his palms. His concerned, yet intense gaze roamed Sasuke’s face, settling on his forlorn eyes. 

Neji, the soul-crushingly perfect man that Sasuke knew he was, bent down and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. He sighed against the man’s soft lips and his shoulders sagged, releasing the built up tension he didn’t realize they stored.

“I wanted to find you,” Sasuke started, “but I didn’t know where you lived and I didn’t want to bring my troubles to you. And I didn’t have my phone so I didn’t have my contacts.” 

A small smile graced the brunette’s lips as he bent down and kissed Sasuke again and again and again. “I’m glad you’re here with me now” was all it took for Sasuke to wrap his arms around Neji’s neck and attach his lips permanently to Neji’s. 

God, the man made him feel. How could he be so accepting, so understanding, so perfect? 

Neji’s hands traveled down his sides and stopped at his thighs, hefting Sasuke’s legs around his waist as he flipped a 180, simultaneously closing the door with both of them inside the foyer and pressing the boy against it. 

The dull ache of Sasuke’s flesh had faded over the extended hours, leaving his rump pressed against the door with minimal pain. He was sure the remnants of the welts were still present, but much less pronounced as his skin started to heal. He had surprisingly missed Neji’s touches despite having seen him not even 24 hours prior, and the reality of it hit him so hard that he soaked in the man’s kisses with fervor. 

“I missed you,” he gasped as Neji trailed butterfly kisses down his neck. He could feel Neji’s hold on his thighs tighten at his words and felt his erection press between his legs. The kisses ended up back at his lips as Neji ate away at him at an excruciatingly heartfelt pace. 

“I missed you more, Sasuke.”

They say sex can bring souls closer together, and Sasuke wondered if this is what it felt like when those simple words strung together with his name making an atypical appearance made his heart ache. 

“Oh my God, get a room” came the abrupt grumble as Kyuubi shuffled by with a bowl of cereal. The man started climbing the stairs. “Just not my room!” he added as an afterthought, effectively deescalating the mood for Sasuke and Neji.

The brunette carefully set the boy on his feet while rolling his eyes. “Never a dull moment, huh?” Sasuke laughed heartily, releasing his grip. They kept their gazes on the blonde until he disappeared into his room. 

When they heard the click of Kyuubi’s bedroom door, Neji grasped onto Sasuke’s hand and led him to the couch in the living room. He sat down, pulling the boy into his lap in a straddle. 

Sasuke looked down at their laps as he balanced himself with a hand pressed against Neji’s chest. The man had not released his other hand despite their secured location. In fact, Neji’s other hand came to rest upon Sasuke’s lower back, stroking almost subconsciously, while his gaze was fixed on Sasuke’s face. 

“I’ve missed you,” Neji delivered the words in a near whisper as his forehead came to rest on Sasuke’s. He stared in the Uchiha’s eyes with an intensity that set ablaze forests and mountains, so acute it made Sasuke want to look anywhere but at them. “Don’t look away,” Neji said hurriedly as if he sensed what the boy was thinking. “Look only at me, Sasuke.”

The boy bit his lip to deter his body from squirming in the mann’s lap. God, those eyes. Why did they look so devastatingly beautiful, yet lonely? 

Sasuke felt the grip on his hand tighten as he forced himself to maintain Neji’s scrutiny. 

“What’s wrong, Neji?” Sasuke whispered. They were so close. He was afraid anything louder would shatter this fragile world the brunette had created.

With a faint exhale, the man finally broke eye contact when his head dropped and rested on Sasuke’s shoulders. Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly at the sudden movement as his hand scrambled to wrap around Neji instead. Another moment’s silence passed. “Neji?” he finally whispered again, and if possible, the grip on his hand turned nearly bruising. Sasuke gripped back just as hard.

“I thought I lost you,” Neji murmured against the boy’s shoulder. He turned to burrow his face in the arch of Sasuke’s neck. “I’d been calling all day. When I couldn’t reach you, I thought you didn’t want me anymore. I thought I did something wrong or you were hurt.” Neji laughed, a pitiful cry that was short-lived. “I didn’t know what to think honestly.”

The hand that had held on oh-so-desperately suddenly loosened, giving Sasuke the opportunity to wrap both arms around the brunette. He cradled the man against his warmth and sunk his fingers through the man’s luscious locks. 

“Baka, Neji, you hold me on too high of a pedestal and hardly give yourself any credit. If anything, you would be the one leaving me. You’re a treasure mine, and I’m just your typical high school teenager. You do things to me that I can’t explain. I look at you and wonder how I got so lucky.” Sasuke continued to comb his fingers through the man’s hair, feeling the anxiety in Neji’s chest slowly draining away.

The man finally looked up at him, and his eyes brought Sasuke’s world to a standstill. Those milky white eyes bore into him softly, tenderly, but hid amongst an emotion he could not put his finger on. Sasuke blinked twice to rid his frozen stare and leaned forward to kiss the man. It was a long kiss, not rushed nor heated, but soul-crushing and longing. When they finally broke it off, Neji had brought the both of them to a standing position.

“Come home with me, Sasuke,” Neji murmured, holding his hand out for the boy to grab onto. The boy held on, ignoring the way his heart strings tugged and fidgeted in his chest. 

-H.J.-

Itachi refused to show the CD to anyone. He couldn’t. 

His Otouto was naked throughout the entire recording. He was being defiled by another man the entire time. He was moaning and begging for another man’s dick to stretch him open the entire time. And the name that Sasuke called out… Itachi hands tightened around the arm rests. 

His lifeless gaze fixated on his computer screen, watching those hands work to caress every inch of that body. He hadn’t even bothered to silence the video- might as well let it bare it all. 

It had only been a day since the incident. There he sat- an empty shell of a man- in a big, empty office within a big, empty house on a dead silent Sunday morning, bloodshot eyes narrowing to protect themselves from the stream of light breaking through the curtains, as he watched something that was never meant for his eyes.

How many times had he replayed it already? Six? Seven? There was no doubt he was a glutton for punishment- a masochist. 

His gaze followed the movements on screen almost mechanically as he gulped down the liquid that slid down his throat like water. His eyes flickered briefly to the last three fingers of whisky in the bottle, the bottle of Black Velvet his Otouto had taunted him with not long ago. 

What was the point of drinking alcohol if it couldn’t numb his thoughts? His body felt heavy, but his goddamn brain wouldn’t stop working. 

Why was he repeatedly watching his precious Otouto get fucked by a man that wasn’t him? Why was he doing this to himself? Was this his punishment for what he did to his beloved? 

“Oh, f-fuck, fuck yeah… Aghh, t-three f-fingers?" 

Itachi’s eyes flickered from the bottle to the screen. Yeah, if Itachi were to fuck his baby brother, he would need at least three fingers. Four to be safe. He was big to begin with, and his dick had a habit of swelling to comical proportions when it came to Sasuke. Only Sasuke. 

“I don’t want them anymore.”

Would you want my dick instead, Sasuke? I’d tear you in half in anticipation. No, that’s not the only reason. I’d dive into your body and carve my existence into your soul so you could never forget me. I want to ruin you so you’ll never forget me.

“G-god, it's so fucking big.”

Only for you, Otouto. Only for you does it get hard. If I let you, would you bounce on it like a good boy until you’ve filled yourself to the brim with me? Would you say the same thing to me? 

Itachi brought the remaining liquid to his lips and gulped it down. He was right. The burn was nonexistent. The bottle fell from his fingertips and rolled to the side, clinking against an empty bottle of vodka.

“A-ahh, tell m-me you're mine instead… I want you to be mine, too.”

I have been yours since the beginning of your existence, Otouto. I have always been yours. You are the reason for my existence. Without you, my life is not worth living. 

The recording finally rolled to a stop. Itachi’s arm felt heavy, and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t lift it to hit replay. He rested his head back against his office chair, and it was only when he closed his eyes did he feel something drip down his face. 

Tears. They were tears. 

“Man, don’t you look positively wretched?” 

He heard a voice from the distance, but his eyelids felt heavy, and his long lashes laid flush against his cheeks. Whoever it was could go fuck themselves. 

“You alive?” 

He heard approaching footsteps, but his brain didn’t feel a need to discern the owner of that familiar voice. 

A big sigh. “I don’t know why you insist on doing this to yourself.” 

Itachi felt his body being dragged out his chair and his arm being swung over someone’s shoulder. He groaned unintentionally at being moved without warning.

“I’m taking you to the hospital, you idiot. You don’t look so well.” 

“I-I’m fine,” he slurred, unsuccessfully tossing out the words as his body remained limp.

“Tch. Dumbass.” 

“What the fuck?” Whoever it was must have glanced over his body to see his open laptop on his desk, because the man spewed out the same words as he thought when he first saw it.

What the fuck was right.

-H.J.-

Neji had brought the sweet boy home with him. He had shown him where he lived, had had the boy memorize his address and repeat it to him twice, and had given him a quick tour of his four bedroom and four bath townhome. 

He had pulled out a towel for Sasuke and directed him to the master bath, watching with amusement and adoration as the boy flushed when he realized Neji didn’t have any intention to shower with him. 

For good reason, Neji might add. The ravenette had not told him what had happened with Itachi, and he did not want to intrude nor push his luck. If the boy told Neji to shower with him, he would have complied without hesitation. But Sasuke had been quiet on the way over. The Hyuuga supposed, after the long day Sasuke had, this was his first time being able to sit down quietly to reflect on his day. He was happy with holding the boy’s hand in his when he had driven them home.

When Sasuke had finished showering and put on the clean robe that Neji had on hand, he crawled into the brunette’s gigantic bed without a single peep. Neji, who had been washing up in another room, had returned to his and was greeted with a half asleep boy curled up under his duvet. 

He turned off the lights and slid in on the opposite side of the bed and immediately felt the boy snuggle into his side. Sasuke let out a small content sigh as he dug his face into Neji’s side. 

“You smell good,” he murmured in his sleepy trance, missing the way the brunette’s lips curled into a smile.

Neji pulled the boy into his arms, resting Sasuke’s back against his chest and tossing his arm around the boy’s slim waist. He propped his free arm upright so that he could gaze at the elegant features before him. 

Long, lush lashes, fair pale skin, plush full lips sweet as sin, and soft dark locks that scattered across one of the pillows. 

“My beautiful Sasuke,” Neji whispered. His grip tightened to secure the boy close to him, and the brunette leaned down to attach his lips to the nape of the boy’s neck. It was meant to be a wet kiss, but as soon as he tasted the sweet skin and caught a whiff of his smell, his lips formed a tight circle around the boy’s flesh and he sucked slowly but generously. He heard the boy groan in his sleep and murmur his name, which only fueled his desire to continue. When he finally removed himself, a dark mark was already forming. He kissed it and then fully laid down to spoon Sasuke. 

“Goodnight, baby.” 

The following serene morning was ruined by Neji’s cell phone buzzing away on his nightstand. He had picked up quickly so the vibrations did not wake Sasuke up and slid out into the hallway to answer.

“Is chibi with you?” 

It was Kyuubi. He recognized the deep baritone that held an edge of sass.

“He’s sleeping,” Neji responded. He took another glance at the slumbering boy and silently closed the bedroom door. Then, he headed to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. “What’s up?”

“I have a question for you, and I need an honest response.”

So serious, Neji thought. And first thing in the morning, too. “Have you ever known me to be dishonest?” He pressed the phone to his ear and shoulder as he filled his coffee maker. 

“When you had sex with Sasuke in my room, did you record it?” Kyuubi asked.

Neji’s brow scrunched in confusion and his movements stilled. He held onto his device once his coffee began brewing and took a seat in the living room. “Why would you ask me that?” he queried. For Kyuubi to ask that, he’d either been perving, which didn’t seem like him, or had a part two to his question. He sighed aloud when his question was met with silence. “No, I did not nor have I ever recorded anything like that with anyone, especially not Sasuke.”

The man on the other end blew a deep breath, and Neji sensed the concerning issue before Kyuubi breathed a word about it. “Then, this turns into a doozy of a situation.”

Instinctively, Neji’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me what’s going on, Kyuubi. It’s rare that you call me and ask such a situational question.” 

“I called to tell you two things. The first is that I brought Itachi to the hospital for alcohol poisoning, and since Sasuke is his only existing blood relations, he has a right to know. I couldn’t call his phone because he doesn’t have it on him. Hence, this call to you. We’re at Konoha Hospital, second floor: room 203.” 

“Is he stable?” Neji asked. 

“All things considered, yes. They’ve given him an IV, and we’re just waiting out the effects while his liver slowly detoxifies his body. However, I’m more concerned about the second thing, Neji.”

“Someone recorded Sasuke and me having sex,” Neji stated, a clear statement rather than a question. It was obvious based on what the man had thrown at him.

Another heavy sigh. “Yes. Itachi’s still unconscious so I don’t know the details, but here’s what I know based on an at-a-glance. The recording was given to Itachi, Itachi has seen the contents of the recording from beginning to end, and what he did to Sasuke was a direct result of those two things.”

Neji’s grip tightened on his phone. He assumed that what Itachi did to Sasuke was a part of the argument that Sasuke mentioned him having with his brother. It would be a good idea to ask the boy when he woke up. “Appears to be malicious intent,” he surmised.

“I arrived at the same conclusion. It seems as though Itachi was the only one given the recording. Since you were just as perplexed about my question, I’m assuming you didn’t receive a copy.”

Neji made a sound that offered confirmation. Leave it to Kyuubi to be so perceptive.

Kyuubi continued. “Working under the assumption that the recording was only given to Itachi and not you nor Sasuke, we can assume that the main goal was not blackmail. I don’t know about you, but if I were to blackmail someone, I’d find trouble with the individuals directly involved. In this case, you or Sasuke. You’re loaded- why wouldn’t they take a jab at you? But, if you didn’t know about its existence until now, I highly doubt Sasuke knows. Which means it was filmed with the intention that Itachi be the main recipient. Now, Neji, why would someone send something like that to Itachi of all people?”

Neji’s brain was already reaching a conclusion as he took in Kyuubi’s words, but he remained silent. He wanted to see if the man had similar thoughts.

“Well, from your silence, you’ve come to the same conclusion. I’m sure by now you’ve at least suspected something between Itachi and Sasuke- specifically how Itachi feels about Sasuke… Something like that coming from someone like Itachi, it’s difficult to hide without it manifesting itself one way or another.” 

Neji butted in. “We’re coming to the same conclusion because we’ve ruled out the other likelihoods,” he stated. “If it was a hate crime, it would have been all over the internet by now. A hate crime would have exhibited different symptoms: rage, illogical behavior, a lack of control. But this seems calculated, thought out, and very much target specific.”

“Exactly. This is why I’ve always liked you, Neji. I don’t have to explain things to you. I’m guessing that this individual knew something of Itachi’s relationship with Sasuke. Seems like an immature taunt from afar. Needless to say, be extra careful these coming days. Both of you.”

“Sasuke will be staying with me for a while. I’ll protect him.”

“Also, bring him to see Itachi. I doubt he’d forgive himself if he didn’t at least visit once. Even though he’s mad at Itachi right now for a good reason, I hope he doesn’t let that cloud his judgment and affect his actions. I’ll leave it up to you what you decide to tell or not tell him regarding the recording.”

“Thanks for looking out, Kyuubi,” Neji said.

“I’ll give you a call if I hear anything else,” Kyuubi responded, then hung up. 

Neji tossed his phone aside onto the sofa and ran his fingers through his hair with an agitated groan. Something disturbed him about the whole situation. If he was working under the assumption that the video was sent only to Itachi, then that meant Sasuke was at the epicenter of the ordeal. 

If the video had been sent to Hiashi or TenTen or Hinata, then Neji would have assumed that the situation revolved around his involvement. But he would have heard something like that already, especially if it was given to a family member or his friend. Someone had their eyes on the younger Uchiha and was dragging everyone along with them.

He’d definitely be watching over Sasuke more than usual these next coming weeks. 

Like hell he’d let anyone close enough to touch Sasuke much less harm him.


	9. Part 9

It was minutes later when Neji was sipping on his freshly brewed coffee on the sofa that he felt the sweet embrace from behind. Black spikes filled his vision followed by an adorable kiss on his cheek. His lips twitched amidst pulling away from his mug, and he set it down and dragged the teen over the couch and into his lap effortlessly.

“How’d you sleep?” he murmured, leaning forward to place butterfly kisses down the teen’s neck. 

“So good,” Sasuke sighed contentedly, squirming slightly in Neji’s lap to find a comfortable position before relaxing and leaning into him.

Neji’s lips quirked from their position at the base of the boy’s neck. He was so cute. The brunette opened his mouth to suck on the juncture in front of him, earning him a hitched moan and hands in his hair. His hands caressed down the teen’s waist and cupped his behind in his hands, kneading gently and bringing their bodies flushed against one another’s.

He pulled away from Sasuke’s neck to stare directly into his eyes, finding beautiful dark orbs peering at him with a mixture of curiosity and attraction. “I’m glad you slept well, baby,” he said, coming forward to peck those enticing lips.

“Kiss me properly,” Sasuke whispered, eyes half lidded while his hands pulled Neji’s face back toward him for another kiss.

They both groaned when their lips met for a second time with more force and elevated passion. Sasuke’s tongue snuck into Neji’s mouth almost immediately, reminding Neji of their first time swapping saliva. He wrapped his tongue around Sasuke’s without question, brushing and rubbing against the mild sweetness that invaded his senses, and pushed against the boy’s lip with increased fervor. Neji bathed in the boy’s moan as Sasuke’s fingers tightened in his tresses to keep him as close to him as long as possible.

When they broke apart for air, Sasuke was finally willing to drop his hands from that beautiful hair. Instead, his fingers crept along the hem of the brunette’s shirt while he stared down at Neji’s groin.

Neji noticed his gaze and, within a flash, he had the boy on his back on the couch while he, himself, hovered over him. “Are you hungry, baby?” Neji breathed out, bringing his hips down to collide with Sasuke’s when the word ‘hungry’ fell from his lips. 

He reveled at the shaky moan he received and reached a hand down to tug off his own bottoms, erection bobbing vicariously before the both of them. Neji kept an eye on Sasuke’s features as he leaned closer and guided his thick, long member to glide between the boy’s slightly parted thighs. 

The ravenette shuddered, fingers gripping tightly onto Neji’s obliques. “So hungry,” he whined, feeling the silky heat pool between his thighs. He wanted to thrust his hips forward, but was pushed down and stripped cleanly of his clothing. 

Neji forced his legs apart with his hands as he pulled his body back to admire the view. 

“It’s been a little over a day and it’s still so swollen down here, Sasuke,” Neji murmured, spreading and pressing both of his legs up in the air to widen his view. Sasuke wrapped a hand around the back of each knee to keep them in place, groaning as he set eyes on the blatant look of hunger usurping those pretty white eyes. 

The brunette pressed the pad of his thumb against the opening, marveling at the pinkish dark hue and how the soft opening gave way when he applied a bit of pressure. “Did you enjoy what I did to you here the other night?” he asked, allowing his thumb to sink three quarters of the way in before slowly dragging it back out. 

Sasuke nodded his head, swallowing the lump in his throat when Neji brought that same finger that was inside of him into his own mouth to suck and lick it clean of his inner essence. God, the sound that pried its way from Neji’s throat made Sasuke’s dick twitch and leak profusely. When he spoke, his voice sounded strained as if he was trying to hold back and be sweet as to not scare the boy away even though his word choice betrayed such. 

“God, I want to pry you open and eat you from the inside,” he growled, both hands parting Sasuke’s cheeks as wide as they could take before diving forward and smashing his face against that puckered hole. 

Sasuke yelped, hands immediately tightening around his knees as they threatened to shake and give away. 

“Aah!” he shrieked, head tossed back deep into the couch cushions as he felt Neji’s insistent hot, wet tongue prying into his ass. Those strong, able fingers gripped tightly against his cheeks as Sasuke’s body got pushed back to match the force of Neji eating his ass. 

Wet, slurping noises filled the room and combined with unrestrained moans. Tears filled the corners of Sasuke’s eyes as he became overwhelmed with the intensity of such pleasure. 

The man pried and pried and pried with his tongue, feeling those muscles give slightly and soften against his mouth. Lord, it tasted so addictive to Neji. It made his mouth water and saliva dribble down the corners of his mouth the more he ate. How could Sasuke’s ass taste so fucking good? 

“Neji! Neji!” Sasuke cried, eyes pinched tightly shut. Holy fuck, it felt too good to be real. He could feel the overwhelming droplets of tears forcing themselves past his tightly lidded eyes. “Ahhh, fuck! Gentle, Neji. Gentle,” he half whimpered, half moaned. His hips, however, wouldn’t stop pushing against that forceful tongue. 

“So sweet,” the brunette muttered, words muffled against Sasuke’s parted cheeks. “Can’t stop. Give me more,” the man demanded. 

Embarrassingly, with Neji’s hand on his ass and tongue inside, Sasuke’s hips jerked up and his swollen dick spurted streams of cum onto his lower belly. Never in a million years had Sasuke ever came from only having a tongue in his ass. His hands and legs gave out and dropped, severing the contact between Neji and Sasuke’s hole. 

Neji looked up, licking his lips as he eyed the mortified Sasuke who covered his face with his hands. He moved closer, prying the boy’s hands away, and littered his face with kisses. “So cute,” he murmured. 

He left it be after, rubbing his dick along Sasuke’s belly to collect the cum. “Are you still hungry, baby?” Neji asked, half hooded eyes meeting the black ones that sparkled and followed his movements. 

“Still hungry,” he whispered, opening his legs once more and prying his cheeks open.

Neji’s eyes darkened at the sight. Such a beauty he was. Seductive at the drop of a hat. “How can I feed it?” he asked, hypnotized by the sight he was offered. He palmed his dick, spreading the cum along the head and base. “Tell me how do I feed it, baby? My fingers? More tongue?”

“Give me your dick,” Sasuke whimpered. “Fill up my ass.”

“My baby needs my dick to fill his hole, hmm? I should have known from the way you were staring at it earlier.” Neji groaned as he continued to slowly jerk his dick. With his other hand, he sunk two fingers into the boy’s wet hole. They made their way in with less resistance than the first time and after a few thrusts, Neji managed to add a third finger. 

“I don’t want fingers,” Sasuke whimpered, feeling fingers scissor and pry into him. He knew it had to be done, but he couldn’t wait much longer. 

Neji looked down at Sasuke’s body sprawled under him, so gorgeous and wanton. “Tell me you like me, baby.” 

Was his demand ridiculous at such a pivotal moment? He just needed to hear that the boy wanted him. He’d give it to Sasuke whether the boy said it or not, but for some reason Neji needed to confirm these desires. He wanted Sasuke to acknowledge them. 

He pressed the thick head against the opening, watching closely as the boy released his hold to wrap his arms around his neck and loosely wrap his legs around his hips. 

Neji wanted to press his hips forward. God, he wanted to sink inside and feel Sasuke. 

“N-Neji,” Sasuke whispered, “I like you. I need you to feed me.” 

Neji planted his hands firmly on the couch behind their bodies, and with those words, he drove his hips forward and sunk his entire cock into the boy’s sweet, tight hole. 

“Aaaghh!” Sasuke screamed, fingers tightening around Neji as his knees fell open at the mere girth between his legs. 

Neji growled, the sound vibrating from his throat to his chest, as his grip tightened on the cushion and he snapped his hips forward again and again and again. 

His head hung between the two of them as he groaned and his hips plummeted repeatedly with no rhythm and no set speed. He was out of control, bathing in his own pleasure and Sasuke’s screams and moans. 

“So soft in here,” he growled, dick dragging along Sasuke’s walls. “I never want to pull out.” 

“F-Fuck! S-so big!” Sasuke squeaked, the weak thrusting of his hips overpowered greatly by the force to which Neji was shoving against and into him. “Feels so good,” he went on as his hole was being stretched and filled to the brim. He could feel the tear from within from being forced open in one go, but it felt so incredible every time that wide, blunt head hammered against his prostate that it made his body weak and his moans multiply.

Neji was afraid to touch Sasuke. He kept his grip firmly on the sofa as he pummeled and wrecked havoc below. He knew Itachi had laid his hands on the boy, and he didn’t want to lose control and leave behind marks unintentionally. All he wanted to do was drown the boy in an unbearable amount of pleasure. 

“You like how big I am?” he pressed, pulling his entire dick out before filling the entire hole in one thrust. “Feel that, baby?” he grunted as he dug his dick as deep as he could. The boy arched against him with a scream. “Only you do that to me, baby. I’ve never acted like this with anyone else.” 

“N-Neji!” Sasuke called, digging his sweaty face into the man’s neck. “Y-You feel so good. God, I’m so full!” he sobbed, holding on for dear life. 

“I’ve never fucked anyone like this,” Neji went on, grunting like a wolf in a rut. His hips never faltered, never ceased to snap forward, never slowed down. Veins were riddled along the back of his hands and up his arms whilst his blunt nails dug further into the cushioned material. Sweat dripped from his brow. “My dick belongs inside you. It was made for you, Sasuke.” 

“Fuck yes,” the boy groaned. Every thrust he was given indirectly allowed him to rub his erection against those abs. He arched into the thrusts, feeling the heavy breaths against his shoulder and neck, as he was caged in between the couch and those constricting biceps. 

“Are you still sore from last time, Sasuke?” Neji continued, the sounds of flesh slapping against one another echoing through the house. 

“Nngh, y-yeah.” 

“Should I stop?” the man asked although his hips didn’t give any indication of stopping.

“No, Neji. More. I want more.” Sasuke’s voice hitched as more tears spilled from his eyes. Lord, he was greedy even if he was being pushed to his limit. Any more and he’d go over a cliff.

“Yeah?” Neji asked, hips finally slowing down until he was filling Sasuke up in very slow, deliberate thrusts. He made sure to drag his cock along the ravenette’s insides till only the head remained within; and then he filled the boy with a rough, extremely deep thrust to abuse Sasuke’s prostate in the most painfully sweet of ways. 

At last, Neji released his grip on the couch, untangling the boy’s arms gently from his neck as he leaned back to allow his eyes to flicker down to catch a glimpse of Sasuke’s abused hole. With Neji’s size, it wasn’t a surprise that the hole gaped slightly when he completely pulled out, yet it closed so quickly, swollen and bruised. 

A glance up at Sasuke’s face made Neji’s heart skip a beat. The ravenette’s cheeks were tear-stained and cherry red while his chest heaved up and down in congruence with the harsh breaths that escaped those soft, plump lips. But the half-dazed, lustful hooded eyes that stared at Neji from being lost in pleasure made his heart and swollen cock twitch.

“My sweet baby,” Neji murmured, hand reaching up to soothe a thumb across one of Sasuke’s blushing cheeks. “You drive me crazy.” 

“Like you, Neji,” Sasuke responded, still in his own little world. “I like you.” 

The genuine smile that uplifted Neji’s face made Sasuke’s heart do little flips. 

“I like you, too, baby.” He pulled the boy up by his arms and dove in for a kiss. Their tongues met hot and messy while they’re sweaty bodies press against each other’s. When they pulled apart, Neji lifted the boy into his arms and carried him down the hall and back into his room. 

When he set Sasuke down, the ravenette propped himself up onto his elbows and knees and offered himself up. He pressed his heated cheek against the duvet, looking back at Neji wantonly. 

“More,” he pleaded. Sasuke’s heart nearly lurched in his chest as Neji shot forward, gripped onto his hips, and shoved his weeping dick into his hole without mercy. His fingers wounded themselves tightly into the blanket as an uncontrollable whimper left his lips. “So big,” he marveled, words directed at himself more so than to Neji.

Sasuke swallowed him up so naturally that it greatly pleased Neji. He reached a hand around to envelope Sasuke’s dick and jerk the boy off at a ruthless pace. The whimpers and moans were like music to his ears as he sunk his cock deep into Sasuke’s ass while playing with the boy’s dick. 

“You’re so perfect for me,” he muttered as he looked down at Sasuke, whose flushed body quivered against his own. The hole obediently opened for Neji as he continued to pummel into the boy. “So tight and warm. I want to make you gape for my dick. Fuck.” 

Between his attention attached to the sight of the hole that he was filling and a naked Sasuke sprawled under him, Neji didn’t know how close the boy was until the boy was screaming and streams of cum shot out to coat Neji’s fingers and the mattress below. He retrieved his hand to stare at the juices dripping down his fingers, and without a second thought, pulled his dick out for a moment to lather it with Sasuke’s cum, and proceeded to push it back in.

His sweet baby’s upper body had given out and collapsed onto the mattress while his lower half was held up by Neji’s grip. 

Neji was relentless towards Sasuke’s swollen hole as he repeatedly rammed his dick inside. “I’m going to fill you up with my cum, baby,” he grunted, the words parting from his lips harshly as his breathing deepened. “I want you full of my cum.”

“Fill me up, Neji,” the boy whimpered below him, fueling his movements. 

“Fucking shit,” Neji groaned, eyes stationed on the hole that his dick couldn’t stop fucking. He absolutely loved the way that tight, little hole opened up to swallow his thick dick each time he pushed back in. “Why do you make me feel this way? I want you to be mine forever. Fuck.” 

He wasn’t sure if Sasuke had heard him. It wasn’t something he had meant to say aloud. The boy was a moaning sweaty mess below him. If Neji could, he’d choose this exact moment to keep on replay for the rest of his life. He wanted Sasuke. He wanted to keep him forever.

“Fuck, I’m coming, baby. Going to fill you up so good,” he groaned. With a final thrust deep within, his hips froze, flushed against Sasuke’s ass as his grip on the boy’s hips tightened drastically. Neji’s hips jerked as his groans filled his bedroom, colliding with Sasuke’s moans.

Hot liquid painted Sasuke’s insides, and his body bathed in such a blissful feeling. There was so much that he could feel every single spurt as more and more continued to drip out. His body had given out a long time ago and his knees felt incredibly shaky at best. Neji’s groans filled his mind, causing his dick to twitch simply from hearing the heavy breaths. 

Sasuke felt Neji’s chest against his back as arms wounded themselves around his shoulders and waist, pulling him up and backwards to lay as a small spoon against the brunette’s sturdy body. He had difficulty opening his eyes so he didn’t bother, releasing a sigh as he felt a warm kiss on his shoulder.

Just like before, the brunette had refused to pull out, keeping his soft dick nestled inside Sasuke. This time though, whether he was too tired or preferred not to admit that he liked the feeling, Sasuke didn’t say anything in retaliation, opting to set his hand on top of the arm around his waist. 

He felt the man bury his face into his shoulder and a small smile formed on the corner of his lips. 

Sasuke must have dozed off because when he came to it was just a few minutes past noon. “Neji?” he murmured, automatically feeling the arm around him tighten. 

“Should we shower?”

“Mhmm, whenever you plan on pulling out, we can shower,” he said, getting a chuckle in response.

“But I like staying inside you, baby. You’re so warm and snug here.” 

Sasuke yelped and scowled when he felt his ass getting pinched. He pushed back against the brunette, who released him and slowly pulled out. The ravenette winced slightly at the dryness he felt below before he heard rustling and felt Neji stand up. He rolled off the bed to follow suit, but as soon as his feet touched the ground, his body crumpled and a grimace shrouded his face. He didn’t recall ever being this sore in his life. 

Next thing he knew, he was swept up in Neji’s arms bridal-style. He felt the gentle press of a kiss against his forehead as he averted his eyes with a ‘hmph.’ 

“Sorry, babe,” Neji whispered into that kiss, but the smirk that followed destroyed the half-assed excuse. 

“Whatever.” 

Neji set the boy down on the toilet while he grabbed towels from the shelf and turned on the shower. When they stepped in, Sasuke had to lean against Neji to remain upright while soapy hands trailed down his body. 

With his forehead pressed against the brunette’s chest, Sasuke sighed. The heat helped to soothe his achy backside and legs, and he really liked feeling Neji’s strong fingers kneading his tight muscles.

“Babe?”

“Hmm?” 

“Do you know why Itachi hurt you?”

Sasuke opened his eyes at the abrupt question. “Because he’s an ass,” he said.

“I’m going to tell you something, but I need you to remain calm, okay?” 

Sasuke’s hands held onto Neji’s biceps as he pushed himself back to stop Neji’s ministrations and look at the brunette. “What happened?” he asked.

“Kyuubi told me this morning that someone filmed us together the first time we had sex. They gave a copy of that tape to Itachi.”

Sasuke’s eyes went wide, and he ducked his gaze to hide the emotions flitting through his countenance. He felt Neji’s fingers caressing his wrinkled brow while his unoccupied hand supported his weight and held him close.

“So… you’re saying Itachi watched the tape and saw everything that happened that night in Kyuubi’s room?” he asked quietly.

“Yes.”

An unsettling feeling formed in Sasuke’s chest, weighing it down heavily. His hands covered his face in shock. “Do you know who?” he asked, swallowing thickly.

“I talked it over with Kyuubi, and we don’t know either. But we’re assuming it’s someone both you and Itachi know.”

“So the reason Itachi lashed out at me was because of that video?”

“The timeline matches his actions, so yes.”

Sasuke remained quiet for a moment. Did someone have it in for him? Did someone want to ruin his life? But why give it to Itachi? It didn’t make any sense.

“Still doesn’t give him the right to touch me,” he muttered.

“Of course not, babe. I want you to know that I’m not telling you this to scare you. I’m telling you this so you’re informed.”

Sasuke huffed a laugh. See, that was the difference between Neji and Itachi. Whereas Itachi never told him a single thing and in fact tended to keep things from him, Neji was straightforward and involved Sasuke in the decision-making process. For that, he was grateful.

“Kyuubi called this morning. He said that Itachi was having trouble after what happened with you, and he had drank so much that he needed to detox at the hospital. He figured you’d want to go see him. They’re keeping him overnight for observation, so if you’d like we can go today.”

Sasuke nodded. “Okay. Are you coming with me?”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Pfft. I wasn’t trying to.” Sasuke huffed a laugh, which was followed by a help when he felt fingers sinking into his hole. He fixed a glare on the brunette who looked back innocently at him. 

“I have to get it all out, or your stomach isn’t going to feel well soon, baby,” Neji said. He tilted his head slightly, allowing the hot water to drench his locks, sending rivets of water cascading down his cheekbones to his torso. 

A blush blossomed on Sasuke’s face from the combination of having the gorgeous man’s long fingers digging inside him and the sight of water dripping down his prominent features. Good lord, how much could he take before he blew up under the intensity of those dancing, bright eyes? 

“Let’s go again,” he found himself saying. 

The amused expression on Neji’s face turned dark and those pale eyes smouldered while the fingers that were working Sasuke’s entrance gently began to curve and scissor their way within. 

“You’re getting greedy, Sasuke,” Neji murmured, eyes flickering down to Sasuke’s mouth, which hung open in a quiet moan. “I like you greedy.”

Sasuke shivered under the powerful stare before those fingers disappeared and he was pressed firmly up against the tiled wall, caged within bulging biceps, and sucked into a kiss. 

When they broke apart, the teen pressed his body further into Neji’s as his leg came to wrap around one of Neji’s. “I want more,” he huffed as the brunette bent down to lick his nipples. 

“I’ll give you more,” Neji promised before he hoisted the boy up in his arms, pressed his back flat against the tiles, poised that soft opening against the head of his dick, and sat Sasuke down on it. 

“Nnghh! Y-yeah, God yes!” Sasuke yelled, head slamming against the wall as he saw stars. His arms wrapped tightly around Neji’s neck as his hips moved erratically up and forward for added friction. 

Neji gritted his teeth as his cock was sucked into that warm, inviting hole and he thrusted upward to bury himself fully into the ravenette. The boy was writhing against him like an incubus on a feeding frenzy, and that only encouraged Neji to move faster. 

This beautiful boy wanted his cock, was deep in the valleys of pleasure because of his dick driving inside him, and he allowed Neji to satisfy him. How the fuck did he get so goddamn lucky? 

By the time they got out of the shower, another hour had passed. They both had toweled off and Neji was running a towel through Sasuke’s wet hair. When they were ready and dressed, Neji drove them to Konoha hospital. 

H.J. 

Itachi’s eyesight was poor when he first attempted to open his eyes. His brain registered bright lights, a beeping sound, and the smell of disinfectant. 

Fuck, he thought. He was probably in a hospital. His throat felt parched and an abomination of a headache pounded against his temple. 

The second time he opened his eyes, his vision returned to him, and he could make out the closed door, the bedside chairs, and the nightstand next to the bed he was laying on. 

There was a needle taped to his hand, which was attached to an IV, and everything below his chest was covered by white sheets. He was also dressed in a hospital gown. 

Upon looking around the room, his gaze finally zeroed in on Kyuubi’s apparent presence next to him. It was hard to ignore him when his feet were up on the bed and had been nudging at his side since he had regained consciousness. 

“You look like you’ve had better days” came the snarky comment, and Itachi just wanted to turn around and ignore him, but this man was the reason he was laying in a hospital bed instead of dead at home, so instead he flicked him off.

The blond giant laughed as he always did at Itachi’s antics before his amusement died and a serious look replaced it. 

“You should be more careful. And use your words instead of resorting to shit like this. Is this your way of asking for his attention? Because I’m sure there are better ways to go about it.” 

Itachi remained silent, opting to look out the window instead. 

Kyuubi sighed. “You know, you’re lucky our Granny Tsunade owns this hospital and was in town when you were admitted. She says she’s keeping you overnight, and then depending on your headspace, we’ll revisit talks about your discharge. Hey, you sulking idiot- are you listening to—”

The blond paused at the knock on the door and his eyes flickered over to the entrance. “Come in,” he said when he realized Itachi didn’t give a single shit as to inviting whoever it was in. 

Kyuubi caught a glimpse of Sasuke before he noticed Neji’s towering frame behind him. He glanced over at Itachi, who remained unfazed and still had his sights outside the window, and pushed himself off his ass, declaring, “I’ll go get the doctor to have a lookie” before he brushed past Sasuke with a pat on the head and dragged an irritated Neji away with him. 

The door shut behind Sasuke, leaving the brothers together in the same room for the first time since the incident. 

“You saw the video, huh?” the teen finally said after minutes of staring at the immobile Itachi.

His voice must have jolted his brother out of whatever mind trance he was in because Itachi’s body physically jerked, flinching simultaneously at the sound of his voice. 

The long-haired ravenette turned to look at him, eyes wide and blurry with tears. “Otouto,” his raspy voice croaked, and he raised a pitiful hand in Sasuke’s direction pleading him to take it. 

Sasuke released a loud sigh, and his feet carried him toward the man a second later with little hesitation. Then, instead of grabbing the man’s hand, he climbed onto the bed, sat down on Itachi’s thighs, and pulled the man into a warm embrace. 

Sasuke felt his brother’s body shudder and tremble as the man silently dug his face into his neck, and the teen’s shoulder blade grew damp. 

When his brother was like this, Sasuke couldn’t bear to hold a grudge. He was always weak to his brother’s emotions, specifically when it involved his self-destructive habits. The man almost never cried and if he ever did, he made sure Sasuke didn’t know about it, so the contrast between this large hunk of a man and his distraught, trembling form in Sasuke’s arms made the teen sigh deeply in resignation. 

“Idiot,” he chastised, rubbing his palm up and down Itachi’s back. “Why can’t you just talk to me about these things?”

“I’m sorry” came the whisper against his shirt. Sasuke felt weak fingers gripping at the hem of his shirt. 

Sasuke hummed quietly, bringing the same hand he used to pet Itachi’s back up to stroke his hair. “If you’re sorry, then I want you to start telling me things instead of keeping them from me. And stop making decisions for me. Instead, include me in the decision-making process.”

“I’m scared,” Itachi croaked. His beautiful face came into view when he pulled away from Sasuke’s neck, and Sasuke’s gaze softened at the anxiety-ridden eyes that befell his. Tears dribbled down that chiseled jawline as he continued, fingers tightening on the boy’s black shirt. “I’m scared of losing you, but I— I can’t seem to stop doing things that push you away… You are my life, Otouto. I live for you.” Itachi gnawed on his bottom lips as his eyes casted downwards, stringing with the words he couldn’t get out. “I need you. I need you so much it hurts here,” he insisted, pressing his hand against his chest. “I don’t know what to do with myself if you’re not with me.”

Another sigh flew through Sasuke’s lips. “You love me that much, huh?” His eyes softened drastically. “Baka, Aniki,” he said softly. 

“Please come home,” the man replied. 

Now, that wasn’t playing fair, Sasuke thought. He blew a breath. “Well, as long as you promise to try your best to talk to me when you have something bothering you, then I will try my best to be forgiving and open-minded,” he responded. 

“I don’t like Neji” came the abrupt declaration. 

Sasuke couldn’t help it. He bursted into laughter. Aww, shoot, he just couldn’t handle how childish that confession was. Sure, he did just ask Itachi to try his best to discuss matters that bothered him, but he didn’t expect such an immature response. 

He had to wipe away tears gathering at the corners of his eyes and endure a powerful glare from his brother in the process. “Sorry, my bad,” he said when he finally calmed down, “but I think that’s common knowledge.” 

Instead of saying more or attempting to alleviate the odd look in Itachi’s eyes, Sasuke leaned forward and placed a kiss on Itachi’s cheek, feeling the tender flesh underneath his lips before he smooched and pulled back. “You will always be my Aniki, and I will always love you, too,” he said with a smile. “Even if I am mad at you, I will always love you.”

The boy’s body was encased one Itachi’s arms as those words befell the man’s ears. “I don’t deserve you, Otouto,” he said. “You are my world.” 

The heaviness of Itachi’s last words didn’t quite reach Sasuke. That’s because the teen failed to peel back the layers of the onion to dissect the hidden depth that those words held. But Itachi would one day let him in on the full meaning while Itachi made Sasuke his.


	10. Part 10

“Aniki, I have something I want to say, but I don’t want you to think I’m angry.” Sasuke attempted to pry Itachi’s arms from his waist to catch a glimpse of the man’s face, but Itachi simply burrowed himself closer to him and refused to budge.

The last time his brother acted in such a way was when he dragged into a child pedophile’s house during Halloween as a kid. Itachi had beaten that man senseless; however, for hours after that, he refused to let Sasuke leave his embrace. The weeks after that were met with an anxious-ridden Itachi who wouldn’t leave his side for a split second. Sasuke was the one who almost got assaulted, but Itachi ended up being the one who was traumatized. 

The teen sighed and took the silence as his cue to continue. “I’m starting to notice that you’re drinking more than usual. Being able to drink lethal doses of alcohol without blacking out doesn’t mean you should, you know.”

“... I can’t help it. I just want to forget.”

Sasuke’s hand stilled on Itachi’s upper back. “Forget what?” he asked, forcing his hand to resume stroking the man’s back. Did his brother want to forget him? Maybe he was tired of all the drama and bullshit and wanted to forget being responsible for a teenager like Sasuke. 

“Every time I close my eyes, I see his hands all over your body,” Itachi whispered. His voice was low, hollow. “I see his dick inside you. It doesn’t belong inside you. I can’t handle it. It makes me want to kill him.” 

Sasuke’s heart stopped beating for a mere second before it resumed by pounding twice as hard against his chest. Okay, this was so much worse than his initial thoughts of self-doubt. He swallowed the knot in his throat and tried to level out his voice when he spoke. “Why does it bother you?” he asked.

Itachi’s grip tightened. Any more, Sasuke mused, and it would prevent him from breathing with ease. Maybe this wasn’t exactly the right time to tread into this territory, but the words had already slipped past his mouth, so all he could do was embrace for any impact. 

“He doesn’t deserve you, Sasuke.” Itachi’s hard tone reached the teenager’s ears, snaking its way into his belly and burrowing itself into his intestines. They were words that were meant to linger and create fantasies. 

“You’re starting to not make any sense again, Aniki,” Sasuke sighed, hoping to remain emotionally neutral and failing miserably. “Why doesn’t he deserve me? How could you say that without knowing him?” 

“Because you’re supposed to be mine!” 

Suddenly, Sasuke’s startled eyes were reflected in Itachi’s furious gaze as his words jumped out at him and attempted to curl around his soul. 

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?” he stated, before blowing out a huge sigh, and rubbed his face in exasperation. “You know what? Let’s not start this conversation again. If you recall, you’re the one who pushed me away. You didn’t want me.”

“I’ve always wanted you, Sasuke.”

“‘But that doesn’t mean you can allow yourself to have me.’ Is that what you’re going to say next?” Sasuke snapped. What a load of bull.

The silence was all the answer he needed. He removed himself from the bed abruptly, annoyed that such a topic of conversation riled him up so much. “Let me just be clear. I like Neji. He treats me well and looks out for me. He tells me the truth straight up and he doesn’t hide things from me. And I can tell he wants me around. You and I are brothers. You’ve made that very clear since the very beginning, so I don’t know what you want from me. If you want my support and companionship, I am always going to be by your side as your rock. But if you want to drag me through the mud with your indecisiveness, then I’d prefer not to tag along for the ride.” 

“I’m sorry.”

Sasuke grunted. “Treat me like you love me, but don’t treat me like you’re in love with me.” 

“But I’m in love with you” came the whisper of words strewn together brokenly. 

But the heavy door had already clicked into place seconds prior, leaving Itachi in a room as empty as his soul. 

H.J. 

Sasuke had trudged down the hall and smacked head first into someone’s chest. His body propelled backward only to be caught by the same pair of hands. Neji’s familiar scent wafted into his being, and Sasuke’s squared shoulders sagged, releasing all the pent up tension. 

“Baby, you’re crying” came the sweet voice. 

Sasuke peered up into those worried, pale eyes and quickly brought his palms up to swipe away the tears. He hadn’t realized he’d been crying. Really, was there a reason to be sad as if he had lost something? Maybe he was crying out of frustration instead. 

He felt a warm kiss being pressed against his temple and felt Neji’s comforting arms envelop his body. “It’s okay,” the man cooed. “I’m here for you.” 

The teenager buried his tear-stained face into the man’s chest for a second to recollect himself and sniffled quietly. 

“Should we go home?” Neji’s soothing voice asked. 

He nodded against the man’s chest and immediately found himself coaxed down the hallway by the possessive, yet comforting hand pressed against his lower back. This was what he needed. Someone who knew what he needed the exact moment he needed it. Someone who freely gave him affection without asking for anything in return. Someone who gave him butterflies in his belly, not heartache in his chest.

The teenager leaned his head against Neji’s shoulder on the elevator ride down, before they passed Kyuubi in the lobby. The man whistled low at the sight of them. “That bad, huh?” 

“We’re going to head back. We’ll leave Itachi in your hands,” Neji said, arm curling around the boy’s waist and tucking his smaller frame to his side. 

“Can’t blame ya,” Kyuubi said, eyeing Sasuke’s deflated form. “Man! He’s so lucky to have a friend like me. For real, though.” He ruffled the boy’s hair before he skedaddled in the direction of the cafe. 

Neji had Sasuke’s and his entwined fingers on top of Sasuke’s thigh as they drove home in silence. The teenager’s fingers grasped tightly onto the brunette’s, refusing to let go as his gaze remained rooted in his lap. 

He couldn’t decide if his thoughts were going a mile a minute, or if his brain was tired of all the drama, and only left behind a void. At one point, he wondered why Neji liked someone like him. 

Neji was educated, intelligent, and witty. He had a great job and possessed an unrivaled body that he obviously worked hard to get and continuously maintain. Neji was kind, thoughtful, loyal, funny, and so sweet that, more often than not, Sasuke wondered if such a being truly existed without alternative intentions. Neji made sure Sasuke didn’t doubt him nor his actions. Neji was basically a god reincarnated. A beautiful saint compared to Sasuke.

Sasuke knew that, aside from his features, he was nothing special. He was still finishing high school, he didn’t have a job, his past relationships were questionable at best, and even his ability to protect himself, as shitty as it was to admit, was mediocre at best. His body had froze back when Orochimaru stalked him, he could never stand up for himself when he was sexually harassed at school because he was beyond embarrassed that a teacher would do such a thing to a student, and let’s not forget about how they were filmed by someone and Sasuke was helpless to do anything about it. To top it off, even Itachi didn’t want him. 

Come to think of it, he couldn’t think of one reason why anyone would want him. Let alone someone like Neji who had everything going for him. Maybe he’d get tired of Sasuke one of these days and toss him aside. 

Sasuke bit his lip. Fuck, that was depressing. 

By the time Neji pulled up to the driveway, Sasuke’s grip was unrelenting. The man had to pry his fingers out of his own in order to turn off the engine and get the both of them out of the car. However, as soon as the car door locked, Neji, with his beautiful smile. had extended his hand for Sasuke to take without a single peep. 

See what he meant? Neji was a beautiful soul. 

As soon as they got inside the brunette’s home, Neji pulled Sasuke toward the living room, sat down on the couch, and pulled the boy facing him into his lap. The long-haired male cuddled the boy, allowing Sasuke to bury his face into his neck, as he kept his arms firmly around his waist.

“Want to talk about it, babe?” Neji asked gently, pressing a kiss on top of his head. He caught a whiff of his shampoo emitting from those raven locks and couldn’t help the elation he felt from such a simple thing. 

Neji felt fingers gripping tightly at his shirt and decided not to push on. Instead, he leaned back on the couch, got comfortable, and allowed the boy to come to terms with his own thoughts. He didn’t know how long they both sat there together, but eventually he heard some muffled words. 

“Why is it that people say they want one thing, but their actions say the complete opposite?” 

It seemed like a fairly simple question with a simple answer at first, but that was prior to peeling back the layers. Without hesitation, Neji responded. “Sometimes people don’t understand the weight of their words. They don’t understand that words create expectations, and unmet expectations breed distrust. Usually, though, people tend to want the easy way out; anything that gets you off their radar. If their words lead to a favorable outcome on their part, then they may do that without any intention of following through with actions. Each case is different though.”

“I can’t help, but notice that people only think of themselves. There’s always an angle, and they don’t care about anyone else as long as they get what they want.” 

Neji hummed in agreement. “Unfortunately, that is usually the case.” 

“Then, do you think that someone who you’ve trusted your entire life could do something horrible to you and claim that it’s in your best interest?” Sasuke mumbled.

“Hmm, no. I think, in cases like that, they must truly believe they’re doing something good for you, but who knows if that’s even the right choice? Wouldn’t they be biased in their own choices? Right or wrong follows a moral compass, and everyone’s moral compass is a bit skewed to tailor their personality.”

“Why is it that you can give me such straightforward answers?” Sasuke asked, looking up at Neji. 

The brunette met his gaze with a small smile and propped the boy up so that he was sitting up and at eye level. “Well,” Neji drawled with a minor pause, “because I want you to stick around for a long time, so I can’t be the one to half-ass it.”

Sasuke blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. 

Then, he felt his face heat up as he stared, stunned, at the smirking brunette. When he could no longer handle those teasing, pale eyes, he turned his head with a ‘hmph.’ 

“You’re shameless,” he retorted.

“Only for you,” teased the man, laughing loudly when Sasuke crossed his arms and his lower lip jutted out. 

“Stop it,” the ravenette nearly whined when the laughing continued. It was a beautiful sound, mind you, and it made his heart flutter, but he didn’t like that it was at his expense. 

“I can’t stop,” Neji said, eyes twinkling. “But I think I might be able to if I get a kiss from a certain someone.” 

After those words left Neji’s lips, this man, this gorgeous, sweet man, closed his eyes and leaned forward, slightly puckering his lips. Sasuke could feel his cheeks redden exasperatingly in embarrassment as he squirmed in Neji’s lap.

“Is it working?” Neji whispered. Outside of Sasuke’s frazzled state, the brunette had peeked an eye open to glance at him as a smile continued to play on his lips.

With a huff, Sasuke pressed both of his palms on Neji’s cheeks and pulled his face toward him, giving him a big smooch on the lips. “There,” he said as he started to pull away. 

Instead, one of the hands that was on his hip snaked behind his head and pushed him back toward Neji.The man’s super soft lips molded with his own, and Sasuke wrapped his arms around the brunette’s neck and melted into the kiss, abandoning his anxious thoughts. 

When they pulled away from each other, Neji rested his forehead against Sasuke’s. “So sweet,” he said as he licked his lips without batting an eye.

“Okay, that’s it!” the boy uttered, attempting to climb out of the man’s lap. 

The arms around his body tightened drastically as Neji’s shoulders shook with more laughter. “Okay, okay, babe. I’ll stop. For real this time,” he promised with a boyish grin. 

Sasuke stopped squirming and pushing against the brunette’s chest with a final groan. He covered his burning face with his palms. 

Neji eyed the ravenette fondly, eyes softening as he gazed at the teenager in his hold. “But honestly, babe. I wasn’t just saying that for fun. I want you to stick around for a long time. As long as you want me, I will always be here. Okay?”

He detached Sasuke’s hands from his face and placed a kiss at the center of each palm.

“What did I do to deserve you?” Sasuke whispered, looking at Neji with an unreadable gaze.

The brunette smiled softly and pulled the boy into an embrace. “Just don’t ever doubt me, Sasuke.”

In return, Sasuke nodded fervently and clung to Neji.

H.J.

“Okay. Bullshit aside, tell me what exactly is going through your head,” Kyuubi demanded as soon as he barged back into Itachi’s hospital room. Before the heavy door clicked into place behind him, he had already dragged the chair to Itachi’s bedside and sat his ass down quite dramatically.

Kyuubi grunted in exasperation as he eyed the man. Itachi’s head was bowed, bangs covering his features so well that he couldn’t see his expression. “Hey, Itachi. You hear me? I’m not leaving till you give me something. I’m getting tired of playing referee between the two of you.”

Seconds ticked by. The longer the blonde waited for a response, the more convinced he was that he wouldn’t receive one. Minutes followed, echoed by the tick tick tock of the clock hanging on the wall. When Kyuubi was ready to stand and literally shake some sense into the man, he noticed Itachi’s hands scrunching into the fabric of the hospital's covers, grip trembling as if the energy from balling up his hands too tightly had nowhere to disperse. 

And then, a scream. A loud, piercing scream that bounced off the walls and boomed in Kyuubi’s ears, causing him to lurch in his seat. 

It was the kind of scream that lasted an eon. The kind that made you think that the man was screaming at the top of his lungs. The kind of scream that came from a once tightly screwed glass bottle suddenly shattering, causing the contents to overflow in waves like a tsunami. The kind of scream that, because it had nowhere else to go for so long, was released into the world all at once. 

Painful. Miserable. Wretched. 

Kyuubi sat there silently frowning, heart stricken with sympathy for his friend. He wondered how long Itachi had kept that bottled inside. 

When it finally ended, Kyuubi sighed. “It was never this bad, Itachi. Now, all of a sudden, Sasuke’s crying and you’re crying. What the hell is going on?”

No answer. The man was trembling in his spot, and had yet to spare him a glance. 

“Hey, answer me. I thought you didn’t want this. I thought you said a long time ago that you weren’t going to pursue that route? Did you change your mind?” the blonde pressed. 

Finally, Itachi looked up. His dull, bloodshot eyes pierced into Kyuubi in a way that communicated that he was there, but not really there. The epitome of a dead man. The only other emotion Kyuubi took away from that tearful expression was panicked desperation, and a whole lot of it at that. 

“I love him” were the shaky, distraught words that reached Kyuubi’s ears. 

“I really do hate seeing you get like this, Itachi,” Kyuubi said, gently cupping a hand on the man’s shoulder. “You’re looking for a best of both worlds, but it seems like whichever path you take, you’re still going to have your worries. If you’re going to be miserable like this, then you might as well take the scenic route and try to enjoy it.” 

The blonde combed his fingers through his hair in frustration when there was no shift in expression on the man’s face. “Whatever. The decision is yours. But at this rate, Sasuke isn’t going to have an Aniki to come home to. You get that, right? You need to make a resolute decision before you leave this hospital: what do you want Sasuke to be in your life? Do you want him as a friend? Brother? Companion? Lover? Or go back to the way things were prior? You need to decide because, if you don’t, you may lose him altogether.” 

Kyuubi stood, dusting off his bum. “Granny Tsunade will check on you tomorrow morning.  
I’ll leave you alone to think about it I. The meantime. Don’t do anything stupid, or Sasuke will be devasted.” 

The man left Itachi be after that, but not before notifying the nurse to do additional rounds to check up on him. 

When Itachi was left to his own thoughts, he was an absolute wreck. It was always dangerous to leave him to his own thoughts because of the self-destructive nature of his anxiety-urging thoughts. When he panicked, he tended to carry out unthoughtful actions. 

For instance, he knew that his Otouto was now with Neji. That meant that, even if Itachi wanted to become his lover, he wouldn’t be able to. Sasuke would choose the brunette over him. 

So he thought that perhaps he could homeschool the boy for the rest of his senior year and keep him sheltered. That way he would no longer be able to physically interact with Neji. Itachi could keep Sasuke close by that way. He would transition his courses online so he could keep an eye on the teenager. They could sleep in the same bed so that he could warm up to Itachi, and when he was ready, Itachi would give all of himself to the boy. 

Or maybe he could force Sasuke to choose: be it Itachi or Neji, but not both. 

Or they could sell their house and move somewhere far away, where they could enjoy each other’s companionship without any interference and no one would know who they were or how close they were. 

Or—

Itachi stopped dead in his tracks. The fuck was he thinking? These were all the things he was trying to prevent when he distanced himself from his Otouto. He wanted Sasuke to live a fulfilling, happy life, not a miserable, detached one away from his friends. 

No. No. No. He refused to be hated by the boy for taking away his freedom. He wanted Sasuke to love him like Itachi loved him. He wanted his Otouto happy in his arms.

He couldn’t stand it when Sasuke hated him, when his Otouto was mad at him. It made him ache deep within the crevices of his soul when Sasuke cried, and it seemed that all Itachi did lately was hurt the boy over and over again. He didn’t want that. He never wanted that. 

He wanted Sasuke to choose him. He needed the boy to choose him. Because without Sasuke, Itachi was nothing. And he had always known that. 

Kyuubi was right. If he was going to fight an uphill battle either way, then he might as well take the scenic route and enjoy it. 

If he had yet to reserve his first class ticket to the pits of hell, he sure as heck was buckled in now.


	11. Part 11

Admittedly, this was one of Itachi’s closer calls to death's doorstep. 

Thinking back, he couldn’t recall how serious this attempt was or if it could even be viewed as an attempt. All he remembered was this unbelievable thirst to quell the panic in his chest and cure his racing thoughts. He thought that, perhaps, if he had forbidden Sasuke from going to that party that night, all of this could have been avoided. No video would exist and no prickling thoughts of his Otouto getting rammed would be etched in his brain.

He had felt particularly anxious that night as if a sixth sense was warning him of the troubles to come. Itachi recalled feeling nauseous as he laid immobile on Sasuke’s bed that night, staring at the clock tick tock away as his nerves grew restless. The last time he had felt such unease the night prior, their parents had died the next day. 

These incessant musings made his skin crawl. As if bugs had burrowed underneath the top layer of his skin and nested there, making their presence known while exploring the territory when they got bored like cicadas buzzing away on a hot summer night. That was the feeling he got when he recalled watching the video. The mere thought of someone even touching Sasuke made Itachi want to puke. 

Initially, this was why Itachi wanted Sasuke to be close by and tag along wherever he went. The older he grew, the more beautiful he became; and that tended to attract more creeps than he realized. 

Sasuke always had a gentle nature about him growing up. He was beautiful, sweet, caring, and doted on his friends and family. This was why Itachi always had cookies to eat and homemade meals to enjoy: because Sasuke made them for him. 

There was never an instance when Itachi’s sweet tooth cravings went unnoticed by Sasuke, and never once did he have to open his mouth to ask for it. The boy would bring him big triple chocolate chunk cookies, buy him dango when he went grocery shopping, and observe his diet when he was particularly looking to make gains in the gym and adjust dinners accordingly. He never asked for validation nor for his efforts to be praised. As long as the people whom he shared his fondness for were happy, he was happy. 

Itachi knew Sasuke was an incredibly sweet boy. And that was his blessing to be born in the same household. 

Sasuke also gave Itachi warmth. Just by allowing Itachi to be within his spatial sphere. He made Itachi’s heart so full and never once complained when Itachi pushed boundaries. He shared the warmth of his body, his care, and his presence. 

The man recalled crawling into Sasuke’s bed often after their parents’ death. Sasuke liked to think that it was to provide him comfort on the harsh nights when reality set in that they’d be orphans forever. However, the reality was Itachi was the one benefiting the most from the boy’s warmth. It made him feel accepted, loved, and wanted. If he had Sasuke, then Itachi didn’t need anyone else. 

He also silently thanked Sasuke who allowed him the honor of sharing his warmth on days when Itachi felt like absolute shit, because the boy was aware that skin contact comforted him and lowered his anxiety levels even if Itachi never outright admitted to it. 

Even when Itachi went out of his way to ignore and avoid Sasuke in their younger days, the boy always made a comeback in some way that stole his heart. The sticky notes on the counter telling him there were newly stocked sweets in the fridge, the clean towel left for him in the bath, the cookies on his desk when he came home from school, and the souvenirs left on his bed whenever the boy went on a school trip. The list went on and on, an accumulation within all the years Itachi tried to distance himself from Sasuke. But every little gesture only served to make him fall deeper in love with the boy. 

The way the boy loved was unconditional, and that in itself made him want to cry. It reminded him so blatantly that this boy resembled their Kaa-san down to the very last detail.

Sasuke always gave and gave and gave in his own way that made Itachi’s heart so full, and he never asked for anything in return… until the night they shared their first kiss, and he begged Itachi to explain what he meant. 

But Itachi was a coward, dodging the question by locking himself inside his room.

His heart had shattered that night when he left his Otouto alone like that. After they had reconciled after their parents’ death, he had vowed that he would never make Sasuke feel unwanted again, yet for some reason, it was the one thing that he consistently did. The self-hatred he felt was tantamount to his feelings of powerlessness in this cyclical cycle he had dug out for himself. 

Itachi smiled, a somber expression of how tight his chest felt. 

He was a fucking asshole. 

An absolute piece of shit.

And Sasuke deserved so much better.

The reality was that Sasuke was more mature than Itachi could ever pass himself off to be. There was never an instance Itachi felt the need to question the importance of his existence to Sasuke. The boy was always so open about his feelings and honest with his actions and words.

And, of course, Itachi swept all of that under the rug because he felt unworthy. He feared that, if he accepted such blissful words and feelings that he only ever dreamed about hearing, it would set him up to be heartbroken one day by the one person he couldn’t live without. They hadn’t even established a relationship at that point in time, and he was already anticipating the end. 

At least, if they remained brothers, he’d always have an excuse to have Sasuke by his side. His entire universe revolved around the boy, and the mere thought of anything other than that crippled him. If anyone had paid attention to him and peered inside his chest cavity, they would most definitely report that there was nothing left inside other than shreds of torn muscle.

But, again, these were the words of the coward inside him. The one who lacked confidence. The one who knew he was nowhere near good enough for Sasuke. 

But he didn’t want to give Sasuke to anyone else. And he wasn’t going to. He would rather die.

Up until recently, he had finally broken free of his crippling fears to realize that he was still thinking about himself. What was the point of thinking about himself if his world revolved around his Otouto? He had asked himself that countless times. Ultimately, the decision laid with the boy, but Itachi didn’t even put up a fight and he never gave Sasuke a fighting chance nor opportunity. 

How could he claim that Sasuke was his entire world, the light of his existence, if he pushed him away at every single instance? How could he say that he loved Sasuke with his entire being if he allowed someone to easily steal the boy from him? How stupid was he? 

If Sasuke was so goddamn special to him, why did he hide everything from him, especially these emotions of his? Was he petrified of judgment? Of being abandoned?

What was there to fear anymore if he was already at rock bottom? Sasuke had stormed out of his hospital room as if he was walking out of Itachi’s life. He was obviously fed up with Itachi’s bullshit. He already lost the one relationship he fought desperately to maintain, and for what? 

To end up feeling haunting regret because he should have included his Otouto in his decision making? That’s right. Because he was arrogant and thought he knew better for both himself and the boy 

Itachi couldn’t even bring himself to care because he had arrived at his conclusion years too late. How much more damage could he do if Sasuke was already gone and in the arms of another man? 

Fuck this.

He needed to do something. 

H.J.

Sasuke had a decision to make the next evening. He had two choices: return home as he had originally promised; or return home to grab his backpack and phone, but head back to   
Neji’s and hitch a ride to school the next day. 

One the one hand, he did tell his brother that he was going to return home, and he hated going back on his word. However, on the other hand, his brother was being insensitive and he wanted to avoid any dramatic or awkward encounters. 

When he asked Neji about it, the man smiled and teased him relentlessly, calling him a “cutie” and kissing his forehead. Then, he proceeded to tell Sasuke that he would love for him to stay over, but would honor whatever decision he made. 

Having covered Sasuke with a cozy blanket and left him a cup of tea, Neji was checking emails and taking calls at the dining room table while Sasuke chewed on his bottom lip while he mulled over his dilemma. 

It felt beneficial to leave each to their own musings and space, Sasuke thought. It seemed like Itachi was struggling to convert thoughts into words in that hospital bed. However, despite being livid at the man, he still worried for him. 

Kyuubi had phoned Neji earlier that afternoon with news of the elder’s discharge. Almost immediately upon hearing that, Sasuke felt leaving Itachi at home by himself was a poor choice. Someone should, at the very least, be in the same house just in case anything were to happen. After all, his impromptu visit to the hospital was a result of being left unsupervised.

The boy blew a breath. Geez. He couldn’t leave that man alone for the life of him. 

That was how Sasuke found himself dropped off at his doorstep an hour later. The lights were off and the entire neighborhood was silent, but the front door was left unlocked. A brief, slight smile flickered past his facade before it disappeared. His brother was waiting for him to come home. Sasuke heaved a sigh, his breath escaping into the air as a wisp of white smoke, and beckoned Neji to leave. 

Quietly, he twisted open the doorknob and stepped inside, closing and locking the door with a quiet click. He was met with a living room as dark as the night sky. 

“Tadaima,” he whispered. 

He could make out oddly shaped furniture silhouettes and hear the quiet whirring of the kitchen fridge, but everything else was at a standstill. 

Sasuke made his way upstairs, wondering where Itachi was and if he had fallen asleep already. When he arrived at the top of the stairs, he noticed that Itachi’s bedroom door was ajar so he peeked in. He didn’t have any intention of walking in, but when he glanced inside, what he saw, for a lack of a better word, was a messy room. 

Crumpled papers littered the floor, some around the base of his brother’s desk while others remained tossed aside on top of it. At the center of the carelessly strewn trash was a nesting Itachi, who was hunched over in his desk chair with his face cradled in his arms. 

He nudged the door wider and absent-mindedly began to pick them up so he could toss them in the wastebasket, but that was also filled to the brim with more balls of paper. 

His brows furrowed in confusion at the amount there was and wondered what in the world Itachi was doing. He unfurled the crumpled piece that happened to his hand and saw a line of writing at the top. 

I am miserable without you.

Sasuke frowned and reached for the two closest to him on the floor. 

You are my sanctuary. 

Please don’t leave me alone. 

Then, he got greedy, snagging and flattening out every single piece that he could get his hands on. And just like that, at the very end, he had a thick pile in his hands and sat himself down at the edge of Itachi’s bed to go through each one.

I live for you. You are the reason for my existence. 

My heart belongs to only you. 

I love you more than I could even begin to put into words.

You are my salvation.

Forgive me for being an idiot. 

One after another, each piece of paper began with a single handwritten sentence, which was then crossed out and tossed aside. He glanced warily at the slumbering man a few feet away and back at the stack in his hands. Were these meant for him?

He didn’t know whether to cry from the overwhelming feeling of being loved or smack the man silly for never opening his mouth to voice his adoration and fears. Maybe this was what you called a “tsundere,” he briefly thought. Sighing, he set the stack of letters on the bed, pulled the blanket off the mattress, and gently draped it over his snoozing brother.

He proceeded to leave, closing the bedroom door until there was only a crack left open. When he got to his room, he charged his dead phone, packed his backpack for school the following day, and took a bath.

Sasuke realized that Itachi probably hadn’t had much to eat since the hospital, and he highly doubted he ate much upon coming home, so when he dried off after his shower he went back downstairs to make some porridge. He figured something lighter on the stomach would be a good transition back into eating, and since it was almost eight in the evening, a heavier meal wouldn’t bode well.

Rice, chicken broth, a dash of fish sauce and soy sauce, a bit of sliced marinated pork for protein and flavor, and cubed tofu. He’d add the chopped green onion and cilantro at the very end. Some tamagoyaki on the side would be perfect, too. The broth was bubbling wonderfully within fifteen minutes. Sasuke stirred the mixture to prevent clumping and leaned over slightly to take a whiff. 

“Otouto.”

The boy nearly jerked in surprise when he heard Itachi call him. He set the spoon down and turned around, noting with an edge of mirth that Itachi’s usual straight-laced hair was in a cute mess. Half of it had escaped the ponytail and was dangling over his shoulders. He cleared his throat. 

“Hey.”

“You’re here.” Itachi’s relieved words came with an edge of confusion.

“Well, this is my home,” he responded with a smirk. He noticed the kicked puppy look Itachi was sporting, but chose to disregard it. Did his brother actually think he was never going to return?

“It is,” the man said, giving Sasuke the impression that he was walking on eggshells. 

“I’m not going to ask if you’ve eaten, because you probably haven’t,” Sasuke said, returning his attention to his bubbly pot. He picked up the spoon for another stir. “I’m making rice soup. Why don’t you wash up? It should be done when you are.” 

The sudden arms around his waist from behind gave Sasuke a start. He felt the warmth of a chest against his back and the man’s cheek pressed against the side of his face. 

“Thank you for coming back,” Itachi whispered to him, sending odd tingles up and down his body from the close proximity.

So the man really did think Sasuke had ran away from home forever. He had a bad habit of overthinking just like Sasuke did. 

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Thanks for leaving the door open for me.” 

Sasuke felt a lingering kiss on his temple before Itachi’s body withdrew followed by the warmth of his body. Sasuke sighed, shoulders sagging. Man, that came as a surprise. He was so not used to his Aniki’s blatant expressions of affection. 

Was it just him or did their entire exchange seem robotic? He was willing to let it go and shove down the awkwardness by acting normal when need be; he didn’t want to make waves, and if Itachi didn’t bring it up, he wouldn’t. He absolutely loathed conflict and drama, but recently these things have been wandering to his front doorstep.

Sasuke added the finishing touches to the porridge and turned off the stove. 

Ugh, this was why he hated awkward exchanges. He knew he was an overthinker about a lot of things, but he just never knew anything when it came to Itachi. What was he thinking? Why did he even bother showing Sasuke his affection when he spent years keeping him at a distance? Was he just being brotherly? 

Let’s be real, though. Whether Itachi was showing brotherly affection or not, Sasuke wouldn’t be able to recognize it to save his goddamn life since he’s never known such a thing. Their relationship was always different than the typical pair of siblings. Siblings tended to fight and make each other’s lives miserable. But between Sasuke and Itachi, they tended to live their own lives separately for the most part and stay out of each other’s way…. Well, up until recently anyway. 

Sasuke knew he was starved for Itachi’s affection for years, but why did his brother have to pick now to be wishy washy and out of character?

Gah, Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair. Get a grip, he thought. What was the point of questioning things now when it seemed like his love life was finally headed in the right direction? Was he that tripped over from reading those letters? Then again, it’s not like his name was written on them so he couldn’t ascertain those words were directed at him. Even if they were, what was the intention behind them? 

Words didn’t mean shit without actions to back them up, and any idiot telling him otherwise would be lying. 

Come to think of it, maybe they really did need to sit down and have an honest-to-God conversation about where they stood in each other’s lives. 

At this rate, he’d go crazy from the mixed messages. 

H.J.

Itachi came upstairs with just enough time to spare to pick up a call from Kakashi. If the man was calling so late, it must have been important. Itachi answered as he settled down on his bed, noting the crinkly noise from underneath. He reached under him only to pull the letters he’d been writing stacked neatly in a pile. His brows furrowed as he set them aside. 

“What did you find?” he murmured, making sure his voice was low. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted his Otouto listening in on.

“I started with Kisame just as you suggested. Apparently, the name Orochimaru Sannin only goes back three-and-a-half years, Itachi,” Kakashi’s grave voice uttered on the other line. “Every piece of history tied to that name stems back to August 2017. Anything prior to that is a ghost town. Around that time, a high school teaching certificate along with a SSN, passport, driver’s license, and any other paperwork you can think of surfaced. It was also in August of that year that he was hired at Konoha High.”

Itachi’s grip on his phone tightened. “That was the year Sasuke started school there.” 

“Exactly.” 

“What else?” Itachi demanded.

“Originally, I thought he had taken a fancy to Sasuke because he caught sight of him when he started teaching at the school, but when things felt fishy, I started digging some more. Did you know that, back then, that neighborhood around Konoha High, your neighborhood actually, had a few missing persons cases?”

“No, I wasn’t aware.” News outlets would have had a field day over something like that. It would have been hard to keep off the air, so Itachi would have heard whispers about it if anything. 

“Well, that’s no surprise there, because I wasn’t either. There were no listings in the digital files, but Kisame had heard in passing from one of the gossiping senior officers, so we figured we’d try our luck and look for a connection. Kisame and I dug through the backroom where they kept paper copies of cold case files, and guess what we found tucked away underneath the grime and dust?”

Itachi felt his heart pound in his chest whilst an eerie feeling crept along his skin. 

“Are you sitting down?” Kakashi murmured. 

“Spit it out, Kakashi,” Itachi said.

“Three files. Three boys. Ages 11-12. All with pale skin and black hair… Do you see where I’m going with this?” 

Dread filled Itachi’s lungs, making it hard for him to breathe. “Keep going,” he muttered, although he didn’t know how much more he could hear before he felt like hurling. 

“Okay, listen carefully to this next part, and tell me your thoughts. All three files were dated in the summer and fall of 2013, and all three boys went missing six weeks apart. We rummaged through all the other files, but it seems only these three existed. Then, suddenly, after the fall of 2013, no more mentions of anything and the neighborhood went back to normal.”

There was a pause of silence as Kakashi allowed Itachi to take in the information he had divulged. 

“If this was his hunting ground, it would be unlikely that he moved to another location just for the sake of something different. It would even be more improbable to believe the culprit stopped because he controlled his urges,” Itachi said.

“That’s what Kisame said.”

“So this person must have been caught and locked up during the fall of 2013,” Itachi surmised.

“Hey, Itachi. I’m going to ask you something, but I don’t want you to freak out, okay?” Kakashi responded, tone wary. 

“What is it?”

“Do you remember that incident a few years ago when you took Sasuke trick-or-treating during Halloween?” Kakashi asked hesitantly. “Sasuke had disappeared for a split second, and you went crazy searching for him… Do you remember? That was in the same neighborhood, right?”

With each passing second and each word that he heard come out of Kakashi’s mouth, Itachi’s lungs felt like they were being filled with liquid as a revelation reared its head. It was worse than being punched in the gut or, god forbid, watching that live action video. It was something more sinister, more revolting, and it filled to the brim, threatening to explode and destroy everything in its path. 

His unoccupied hand had white knuckles protruding, and before he knew it, blood was dripping from crescent-shaped slits in the palm of his hand. 

“Are you with me, Itachi?”

“Yeah.”

“When you found him that night, you went berserk, and that man you beat half to death was arrested. Your family wanted to distance itself from the whole fiasco after and forget it for Sasuke’s sake, so you didn’t know that that man was released on parole three years later for good behavior. But then he disappeared off the face of the Earth.”

“What are you trying to say, Kakashi?”

Itachi was up on his feet as soon as he pushed the question through his lips. 

“There are still a lot of pieces of the puzzle I’m trying to fit together, and this is only a hypothesis, but I’m saying there’s a possibility that the man you beat up six years ago, the one who tried to kidnap Sasuke, is Orochimaru.” 

The ravenette made it to the bathroom just in time to empty his guts into the toilet. He must have retched on his knees for quite a while before he flushed nonchalantly as if he hadn’t puked his guts out and pressed the phone back against his ear. 

He was glad Kakashi ignored his moment of weakness, as if he had expected it, and went on when all was quiet. 

“If you think about it, do coincidences on that level actually exist? A pedophile attempts to kidnap Sasuke, a child who matches the profile of other missing kids, in the fall of 2013 in the same neighborhood others went missing. Said pedophile gets arrested, and kids stop disappearing. Three years later in 2016, said pedophile was released on parole and disappeared into thin air. Then, in 2017, Sasuke starts high school and coincidentally the name Orochimaru surfaces out of nowhere with no previous record of an identity present. And now it’s 2020, and only a few days ago, Sasuke told you that a man named Orochimaru was sexually harassing and stalking him. I wouldn’t be surprised if kids started disappearing again.” 

“I can’t let Sasuke go to school tomorrow,” Itachi began, his brain in a huge state of panic and dread. Deep down, he knew that, in all these years, it was the right thing to do to keep Sasuke by his side. Even more so now that they suspected the man was up to no good. “If he disappears, I don’t know what I would do.” 

“Don’t panic, Itachi. For now, I highly doubt he would do anything at school. He wouldn’t have the opportunity to. Plus, I’ll keep an eye out for Sasuke, and I’ve also found someone reliable to monitor him like you asked. Let’s maintain a normal facade, so he doesn’t catch on for now.”

Itachi hated to admit it, but Kakashi was right. Fuck. 

He ended the call and tossed his phone aside, then proceeded to dig his hands into his hair in frustration. This helpless feeling ate up his insides, and he found himself dry heaving on the bathroom floor a second time. 

That was how Sasuke found him.


	12. Part 12

“Itachi!”

Itachi could hear the high pitched panic all the way from the hall. No doubt the boy could hear his unsuppressed dry-heaving. The sound of thundering footsteps added to the gnawing heachache eating its way through his brain as his knees rooted on the tiled floor and his hair started to sag over his shoulders. He pushed the palms of his hands over his forehead and through his hair to prevent strands from touching the porcelain bowl. 

“Is this a side effect from the alcohol? Do I need to call 911?” Sasuke fretted from behind him. 

He felt the tell tale sign of his Otouto's hand on his shoulder before delicate hands weaved themselves through his long hair and collected it back. 

Sasuke had sat himself behind him, the warmth of his body easily seeping through his clothes and into Itachi’s naked back, progressively warming up his pale, flushed skin. 

His upper body was bare, a result of his previous decision to strip off his shirt on his way up the stairs as he prepared to abide by Sasuke’s suggestion to wash up before eating. And currently, this had been a poor decision as he felt the faint splatter project itself onto his chest. How lovely. 

“Get away. I’m dirty,” he groaned between the retching. 

He could feel Sasuke’s gentle, cool fingertips against his scalp as they tenderly gathered his hair together and held it back. 

“No! You’re not dirty!” the boy retorted, fully seating himself behind Itachi. One hand had firmly grasped the hair while the other snuck its way around Itachi’s waist and stroked his stomach up and down in slow, soothing strokes. “Stop trying to get rid of me,” the boy growled. 

His voice was close, and the warmth of his touch eased his pain as the convulsion of his esophagus slowed between sets and he finally managed to stop vomiting clear liquid: evidence of his empty stomach. 

Itachi reached a hand up to flush, but otherwise remained on his knees with his head hung. 

From his position, Itachi caught a glimpse of that slender pale hand moving along his abs. Up and down it went, never once hesitanting to touch him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. 

And, in that moment, it really felt like the most natural thing in the world. So warm and comforting. Like a cup of hot cocoa on a rainy day. 

Are you feeling better?” Sasuke whispered to him, but not once did his hand stop stroking his abdomen. 

He wasn’t sure if he was feeling better especially with the knowledge he gained minutes ago, but Sasuke’s presence and knowing that he was safe next to him was good enough right now. He nodded as he pushed himself up onto his feet. “I need to shower,” he mumbled, the gross sour taste of his stomach’s contents lingering in his mouth.

Of course, the moment he forced his body upright, he stumbled, knees and shins numb from being immobile for far too long. 

Sasuke caught him around the waist from behind, allowing him to lean back against him for support, and Itachi silently laughed himself silly at the thought that he needed his little brother to help him. How ironic. 

“Ugh, stop trying to do things yourself, and let me help you!” Sasuke yelled. Itachi was inches taller and larger than Sasuke’s five-foot-nine lean frame so, when the man leaned on him, he was quite heavy. The boy struggled slightly before cinching his arms tightly around Itachi, holding him in place as he slammed the toilet lid down and ushered the man to sit down. “I’ll turn the shower on for you, so don’t go anywhere.”

Itachi eyed Sasuke’s slender back as the boy leaned over the tub to turn the knobs. Was it odd that he felt content in this very moment? Sasuke was so funny, he thought half-heartedly. Why would Itachi go anywhere if Sasuke was already here with him? 

“The porridge is done, and you’re not feeling good, so I’m going to stay here to keep watch. So take off your clothes, get inside, and call me if you need help.”

“So demanding, Sasuke” he uttered, but he did as he was told, nonchalantly kicking off his sweats and briefs. The sound of a shower spray echoed throughout the bathroom followed by hot steam filling the room. 

“Shut it,” Sasuke muttered, finally turning around. The boy had been running his fingers under the spray until he had deemed the temperature worthy of Itachi’s skin. When he caught sight of a full frontal, naked Itachi, he yelped. “Why are you naked?!”

“You demanded I strip, Otouto.”

“I meant after we switched places!”

Itachi tilted his head slightly, bestowing an odd gaze on the boy. “You’ve seen me nude before.”

“Yeah, when I was five!” 

“How are you going to help me in the shower later if you can’t even look at me?” Itachi began. Sasuke’s rosy cheeks were covered by his hands. Itachi’s mood was improving by the second. “Hmm, you can look, Otouto,” Itachi said as he walked past the boy and gingerly stepped into the tub. He pulled the curtain closed after. “My body belongs to you anyway.” 

“What’d you say?” the boy hollered over the shower spray.

“Nothing. Could you bring me a towel, please?”

“You got it!” Sasuke chirped, causing a small smile to form on Itachi’s lips. So cute.

Itachi took the opportunity to brush his teeth and wash his hair in the shower, getting rid of the remnants of his anxious-ridden episode before he turned off the water. As soon as the water was off, an outstretched arm stuck between the curtain and wall with a dry, clean towel. If Itachi had been feeling better that evening, he probably would have smirked at the adorable attempt to make him appear decent before stepping out.

He accepted the towel and wrapped it tightly around his trimmed waist and proceeded to step out onto the bath mat. Immediately, his eyes locked onto Sasuke’s and his gaze turned soft as he leaned down and pecked the boy’s soft, pink cheek, ignoring his wet hair that was plastered uncomfortably against his skin. “Arigato, Otouto,” he murmured as he began pulling away. “My hero.”

He was quite serious in his sentiment, but had disguised it as a teasing joke. So when he was met with a full blown blush, Itachi’s surprise was evident in his eyes.

“Gah! What are you talking about, Aniki? Go get dressed and come downstairs!” Sasuke said, flustered, before he left Itachi alone and ran downstairs.

Hmm, Itachi thought, as he rid the mirror of the dew. He gazed back at his own reflection, noting the long, wet strands draped over one of his shoulders, the tired eyes, his thick protruding Adam’s apple, broad well-rounded shoulders, a muscular chest trailing down to the eight pack and V-cut he worked hard in the gym to earn, and the very fine and soft dark hairs right below his belly button. He was usually a bit more defined, if not larger, but recent events had put a burden on his body. 

But Sasuke seemed to like it, or at least was embarrassed about staring at it. Either way, if he had known his naked body could cause the boy to blush so much, perhaps he would have done it sooner.

Itachi towel-dried his hair and tugged on gray sweats and a sleeveless top. When he made his way downstairs, he did it slowly, his stomach still churning. He didn’t know how much of the soup he could stomach, but Sasuke would be sad if he didn’t at least try a couple of bites. Plus, it felt like a lifetime since they had a meal together.

Itachi didn’t find the boy in the dining room. Instead, he found Sasuke seated on the carpet in the living room in front of the TV with two bowls of soup on the coffee table. 

“Sit,” Sasuke said, patting the spot on the floor next to him. There were cartoons playing on the television, the bright glow of it contrasting the dimly lit room. 

Itachi did so and was given a spoon. 

“Eat as much as you can, okay?” Sasuke said, gazing over at Itachi. His gaze, Itachi noted, was hesitant as if he wanted to say something, but gentle at the same time.

“I love you.” 

The words came out of Itachi’s mouth like the vomit earlier: uncontrollably and without hesitation. He hadn’t meant to say those words, but it was the first thing that popped in his mind when he made eye contact with his Otouto. His brain was too frazzled to filter them out, so, of course, his mouth spit fired them out without a single thought. 

Sasuke seemed to freeze upon hearing those words, an indication that his innermost being was struggling with how to to receive those words. However, a moment later, he seemed to relax as the tension eased itself out of his shoulders and countenance. 

“Love you, too, Aniki,” he mumbled shyy before he turned back to his bowl of soup and the TV.

Itachi had managed to get through a third of his bowl before his stomach protested and he had to stop. He gave Sasuke a small smile when the boy eyed him worriedly. 

“I’ll pack it up in the fridge for you to eat tomorrow,” Sasuke said, turning off the television and pushing himself off the floor. “Why don’t you go to bed, Aniki?” he suggested.

Itachi noticed that his Otouto made it a habit to call him “Aniki” more often when he wasn’t mad or annoyed at him. He highly doubted the boy noticed that he, himself, did such a thing, but Itachi was never going to point it out. That was his indicator on Sasuke’s mood. He latched onto Sasuke’s sleeve before he could pick up the bowls and stopped Sasuke. 

“Otouto?”

“What is it?”

“Can you sleep with me in my bed tonight?” Itachi asked quietly as he gazed up into a surprised face.

“Why?” Sasuke asked. “You never asked me that before.” 

“Because I feel lonely.” 

Sasuke’s eyes widened. As if he had just heard Itachi say something outrageous and unlike him. And maybe he did because he had never outright told Sasuke how he felt at any given moment in his life that he could recall. The look on Sasuke’s face was evident of his childish inclination to hide his emotions.

Sure, he had to force those words out of his mouth, but they were, by no means, a lie. He would never outright lie to his Otouto.

“It’s okay if you say no,” Itachi added. Albeit sadly. He wanted to cry. He didn’t know if it was the result of that call, but the thought of losing Sasuke had scared him tenfold and made him extra sensitive. 

“Okay,” Sasuke breathed out. A small, sweet smile teased the corner of his lips. “Let me put this away and shower, and then we can go to bed. Do you want to wait for me in my room or yours?”

Ah, Itachi knew it. His Otouto was the sweetest, most caring person on the entire planet. 

“Yours.”

That was how Itachi found himself on Sasuke’s bed as the shower ran along in the attached bathroom. After a weekend of Itachi’s wrongdoings ruining a lot of things, sitting in his Otouto’s bed waiting for him to come out of the shower made him feel a grand sense of relief. Like he was on cloud nine. For some reason, seeing Sasuke’s gentle gaze on him and his sweet smile made Itachi feel loved. 

He had never been so open about anything with Sasuke before, and doing it for the first time made him feel liberated. Was it really this easy to receive what he needed? All he had to do was open his mouth to ask? He wouldn’t know since this was his first time doing such a thing.

He had always felt uncomfortable asking for things. Perhaps, he’d always felt like it was his job to provide so asking was a direct violation of his duties as an older brother and guardian. After all, it was his job to make Sasuke feel safe, loved, and cared for.

At times, he questioned his sanity and his ability to provide love. He questioned his ability to control his emotions, so he didn’t spontaneously combust. He questioned his title as a guardian and the responsibilities that entailed. But, like he said once before, he never questioned Sasuke’s love for him because the boy always provided it. It didn’t matter if Itachi was being cold and ignoring him, or thoughtful and touchy, Sasuke never once took away his affection because of Itachi’s behavior. His love was unconditional. It was pure. 

“Aniki, you ready?”

Itachi looked up from his lap with a start. His eyes softened when they set sights on his beautiful Otouto. Sasuke had tugged on a blue t-shirt and a pair of checkered boxers, and if he didn’t look like the most stunning being on the planet standing there in homebody clothes, then Itachi didn’t know what did.

He nodded and stood, trudging along behind Sasuke as they walked to his room. When they got in bed, he allowed the boy to choose the side he wanted first before he crawled in after. 

And there they were, staring up at the ceiling in the dark while they laid next to each other. 

“It’s rare to see you with your hair down,” Sasuke murmured. His voice was quiet, but seemed to echo in the silent room. 

Itachi hadn’t realized it, but his tresses fanned out along the pillow. “Does it bother you?”

“No. It’s beautiful,” Sasuke responded. 

“You’re beautiful.” Ah, oops. There goes that malfunctioning filter again. But Itachi didn’t feel abashed. It was true after all. 

“Pfft, what’s with that? You’ve been acting weird today, Aniki. Is it because I was mad at you the other day? Come to think of it, I got mad at you twice this past week.” 

Sasuke was met with Itachi’s silence, which meant he had probably hit the nail on the head. There was faint rustling followed by Itachi’s hand grasping Sasuke’s. 

“I’m sorry, Otouto,” Itachi murmured, voice down in the dumps. “Please forgive me for being an idiot.” 

The very vivid memory of those words neatly printed on paper flashed in Sasuke’s mind. He huffed and turned on his side, mirroring Itachi’s body. “You’re forgiven, Aniki. Just don’t do stuff like that in the future no matter how angry or sad you feel. Just talk to me instead.”

Itachi squeezed Sasuke’s hand. “Thank you, Otouto. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Aniki. Let’s go to sleep, yeah?” Sasuke began to turn away, but was stopped by Itachi’s grip. “Do you need something else?”

“Can I… cuddle you?”

The boy wheezed out a laugh, obsidian eyes sparkling in the dark. When he found Itachi through the darkness, his eyes sobered more as if recalling something important.

“Will that make you less lonely?” he asked seriously. Itachi squeezed his hand tighter, reminding the boy of a small child. “Okay,” he acquiesced, turning to face the other direction. 

Itachi’s hand was pulled along as Sasuke repositioned himself. The boy had dragged his arm over himself and laid it over his waist. The man inched closer, immediately feeling that soothing warmth seep into him, as he snuggled the boy against his chest and dug his face into the boy’s nape.

He felt the light strokes on the hand he had strewn over the boy’s waist and listened to the thump thump of his own heartbeat thudding in his chest. Itachi inhaled deeply and sighed.

He loved Sasuke’s scent.

Sweet and light. It tickled his nose gently like the smell of daffodils in the summertime. 

“Thank you, Otouto,” he murmured, placing a kiss on the skin he found in front of him. He felt the boy pat his arm.

“Thank you for sharing with me how you feel,” Sasuke said. “Goodnight, Aniki.”

“Goodnight, Otouto.”

H.J.

Sasuke woke up before his alarm Monday morning.

He groaned quietly as his body shuffled around in bed and yawned like a newborn cat. His eyes remained heavy and closed while he dozed off here and there. He debated whether to get up now or sleep in for another few minutes, but his body had felt really warm as if it was bundled up in a heaping pile of blankets so he settled for the former option.

When his heads popped open, he noticed that the sheets around his body were black instead of blue and he heard the gentle snoozing sounds of his brother behind him. Oh yeah, he had forgotten he had slept in his Aniki’s bed last night. 

A side glance back and he was grinning ear-to-ear. When was the last time he caught sight of Itachi’s sleeping face? It must have been years if he didn’t remember. He tried to scooch his body out of the man’s embrace so that he could get a better look, but his movements caused the arm around his waist to tighten, dragging his entire backside flush against Itachi’s front. 

Sasuke yelped at the sudden movement, but his yelp was followed by widened eyes.

His entire body froze.

There was something hard nestled against his rump. Not brushing against it. Nestled into it. 

He could feel the shape of it through Itachi’s sweats as it propped itself between his cheeks, the only thing serving as a barrier was Sasuke’s boxers. Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut.

It was big.

Really big.

And heavy. 

He felt the man moving around lightly in his sleep, causing the length to brush against his hole. A low whimper escaped Sasuke’s lips, and he slapped his hands over his mouth in retaliation. 

“Nngh.” Itachi groaned in his sleep, digging his face deeper into Sasuke’s shoulder blade. The arm around Sasuke’s waist remained locked in place.

The sudden sound nearly made Sasuke jump. He felt his body heat up to the degree that a sweaty sensation began to form along his hairline.

Holy fuck. 

What kind of predicament was he in? He needed to maneuver himself out of Itachi’s embrace without waking him up. 

But good Lord, Itachi’s length was getting hotter by the second as if it intended to burn its way through Sasuke. Agh, he didn’t care anymore. He flicked the blanket off his body and jerked himself out of Itachi’s hold, dashing out the room without even sparing a glance back.

He didn’t stop running until he had slammed and locked his own bathroom door. Immediately after, he leaned back against the bathroom door and his shaky legs gave out. He sank to the floor, bottom smacking against the cold tiled floor. His dick twitched from between his legs, screaming at Sasuke to stop neglecting it. 

His hands covered his face in embarrassment as he screamed silently into them. 

Holy fuck. Holy fuck. Holy fuck.

What the hell just happened? Getting morning erections was normal for men. But why was he so surprised? Why was his heart thumping so wildly? Was it the embarrassing predicament? Was it because it was Itachi? 

No, wait. When he woke up, he was fine. It was after he felt Itachi’s hard dick grind innocently against him that he felt it. 

Oh, god. Sasuke wrapped his arms around his drawn up knees and hid his face away. 

He already knew the man was packing when he caught a glimpse of Itachi’s naked body last night in the bathroom. The man had basically stripped without a care in the world, as if he was used to being nude in front of others. An unabashed nudist in addition to that. 

However, at that point in time, he had been flaccid. And Sasuke was completely fine. 

But he was anything but fine right now. How was it that, in the span of the minute when Itachi’s length was against his rump, he felt and memorized the size, the shape, the length, the heat, the girth, and the weight of it? And he hadn’t even seen it yet.

Yet? Yet? Why the fuck did he just think that? 

Oh my God. He was nuts! 

His knees pressed tightly together as he squirmed in his spot. His erection wasn’t going away. There was something clearly wrong with him. 

He had Neji. Cool, mature, sexy as hell Neji. And Sasuke and Itachi had agreed to put those feelings and kisses behind them in favor of maintaining their relationship as brothers. Sasuke had even gotten mad at Itachi for attempting to half-assedly reconcile and pursue him at the hospital a few days ago.

It was just so odd to witness such a predicament with his Aniki. This was the man he had always chased after, the man he wanted attention from far more than anyone else, and the man who raised him and took care of him. But he was also the man who gave addictive and heart-wrenching kisses, the man coddled and loved him, and he was also the man who, not even minutes ago, pressed his raging hard on against Sasuke in his sleep. Sasuke couldn’t even blame him because he had done it unconsciously. 

Maybe this was the extent of the kind of love Itachi spoke of weeks ago when they had first kissed. It wasn’t as if he was ignorant to what the man was saying, but he also didn’t fully understand the extent to which those words reached. Nor did he completely understand his Aniki at that point in time. 

How much did his Aniki really love him?

This was the question that left him stumped since as long as he could remember. Itachi would always say one thing and do another; he would distance himself, then insist that Sasuke stick to his side. He would hide his emotions and thoughts. In the 17 years that Sasuke existed with Itachi in his life, you would expect him to know everything about the man. 

However, it wasn’t until recently that they had gotten closer. He remembered the days when his Aniki wouldn’t even spare him a glance. He’d get ignored at the drop of a hat. The man would speak less words to him in one week than he now did in a day. So, Sasuke hated to admit it, but he didn’t know as much about his brother as he would have liked.

Sasuke only knew a few things about his Aniki. He knew that Itachi hated when people touched Sasuke inappropriately. He knew that Itachi hated leaving Sasuke out of his sight. He knew that his brother was a worry wart and was probably a highly anxious person to top it off despite him trying to hide that part from Sasuke. He knew that the man was quick to anger when it involved things related to him, especially his safety and well-being. He knew that his brother loved his cookies and he preferred being a homebody. And recently, he found out his brother responded well to his touch when he was high strung. 

That was about it. Mostly everything he knew about the man had to do with himself. He had no clue when it came to Itachi’s personal life, much less his emotions and thoughts. He wondered if Itachi ever looked at himself in the mirror and appreciated his features, because Sasuke knew that he, himself, did. In his eyes, his brother has always been and will always be the most gorgeous person to walk the planet. He had admired that kind of regal elegance and grace as a child and the teenage version of him apparently remained forever hooked on that stunning beauty.

But he digressed. 

The reality was that they had decided to remain platonic. And Sasuke’s body was acting up inappropriately and getting riled up from Itachi’s unconscious physiological reaction. 

What he needed to do was worry less about himself and work on making sure his Aniki was well-taken care of. It seemed as though Itachi was beginning to open up. Sasuke didn’t know what brought that on, but he was pleasantly surprised and proud of him for doing so. Whatever it was, he wanted to encourage and help Itachi so that they could communicate better.

Sasuke didn’t know how long he sat on that bathroom floor, but when he heard a knock on the door and his brother’s gentle voice call his name, he willed his crazy thoughts to go away and stood up.

He had returned to normal when he opened the door. He dared not spare a glance down, and instead noted the anxiety hidden in Itachi’s voice when he spoke.

“I woke up, and you were gone.”

Sasuke’s heart clenched reflexively at those words. Since when did Itachi speak so openly about anything? He could tell that the man was desperately hiding his anxiety behind those words, and he sought to squash all of that immediately.

“Sorry, Aniki. I was going to get ready for school,” Sasuke said as he reached for Itachi’s hand. He gave it a light squeeze and then dropped it gently. “Do you mind dropping me off at school today?”

His brother nodded and his shoulders dropped slightly as if he was relieved. 

Sasuke smiled. “I’ll go make some coffee for you,” he added. 

“Thank you, Otouto,” the man whispered. Sasuke didn’t know where it came from nor why that thank you was so heartfelt, but he received a small smile from Itachi.

That’s what he wanted, he thought to himself. He wanted to protect that rare, precious smile. The one reserved for him. The one that told Sasuke that his presence was wanted. 

He needed to take care of Itachi so that he didn’t feel lonely.

“Anything for you, Aniki,” he uttered.


	13. Part 13

Fall of 2013 (six years prior): Halloween

Eleven-year-old Sasuke bounced up and down at the end of the stairs in excitement. Every time he moved, the jingle of a bell resonated throughout the house. 

Mikoto squealed, completely enraptured by the sight before her. Sasuke was dressed all in black, save for the single silver bell that dangled at the center of the collar he wore. Fuzzy, black cat ears were placed over his spikes, and he had a tail clipped onto the back of his shorts. 

Mikoto had used eye liner to add on a button nose, light freckles, and whiskers onto his pale features, so that Sasuke could embody his true neko self.

He had been particularly fond of cats that year and insisted that he become a cat for Halloween. It was a sweet request, nothing of the outrageous sort, and Mikoto had been more than ecstatic to comply. 

“My little boy is so adorable,” his mother had gushed on repeat, snapping a ridiculous amount of pictures, as they both waited for Itachi to come downstairs to take the boy trick-or-treating. 

The elder sibling had rounded the corner of the stairs up top and began his descent, but he paused midway at the sight of his Otouto. Like a lion unfurling after being woken from a nap, something rumbled in Itachi’s chest as his eyes flickered once up and down the boy’s body and took in his costume. 

The shirt was barely long enough to brush against his hips, which meant ample movement caused it to ride up. The shorts hit mid-knee, splaying his thin yet somehow chubby calves for all to see. They were loose around the hem, but tight around the glutes. 

It was the first time Itachi witnessed the look, and the mere sight caused a heavy storm to shift inside his brain. Anger boiled to the surface from what his eyes saw, and he shut down impending thoughts immediately like a light switch. 

He didn’t like the costume. It was like a beacon in the night, inviting others to look and notice. But Itachi couldn’t say anything without appearing odd. Sasuke was only 11, and his outfit wasn’t revealing to the typical person per say. Plus, he was a boy, so displaying his concerns otherwise would cause unwanted attention and issues.

So he left it be and waited at the door for Sasuke to grab his purple jack-o-lantern pail. The sun had barely started to set, and a few kids were out and about. Itachi shut the door behind them and headed down the driveway as Sasuke ran around him in laughter.

“Aniki! Aniki! Don’t I look cute?” the boy chimed with a giggle as he twirled. The tail between his legs spun with him.

Itachi looked down at him briefly. He wouldn’t have used the word ‘cute’ to describe what he saw, but the other words in his vocabulary bank weren’t ones he could admit to or simply say aloud. 

“Don’t run, or you’ll fall,” he responded. 

The boy pouted, but nevertheless walked next to him with a bounce in his step. 

Their first house was two doors down on the same street of their house. Itachi waited below the porch steps for Sasuke as the boy rang the doorbell and said his spiel. 

They repeated this around the neighborhood for a good hour, visiting homes that had their porch lights on, before Itachi noticed that Sasuke had piped down and became increasingly quiet. At first, Itachi thought that Sasuke had gotten bored of the routine or became tired, but when he looked at the boy, that didn’t seem to be the case. The boy spoke up before he opened his mouth. 

“You don’t want to be here with me, huh?” Sasuke said. He wasn’t making eye contact with Itachi, and his question didn’t really sound like a question. 

“What makes you say that, Otouto?” Itachi asked. 

“You looked grumpy all night,” Sasuke said, grumpy himself, yet managing to appear dejected simultaneously. “You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to, you know. I can go by myself.”

“Nonsense, Otouto.” As if Itachi would let him go out at night by himself. That was blasphemy. 

“See? You should just go home! I’ll go by myself!” Sasuke took off running by himself, crossing a patch of grass to the block around the next corner. 

Itachi stood stunned at the sudden outburst, something he rarely saw from Sasuke. Had that been harsh of him? Had he really been looking grumpy all night? 

Yes, the boy was absolutely adorable in his costume. And yes, Itachi thought Sasuke looked absolutely precious as a neko. He’d only hated the idea of his Otouto dressing up in that kind of costume for the world to see. He would have preferred to coddle that image close to home. The idea of monopolizing that image burned through his brain.

Fuck. 

He took off running in the direction that Sasuke had disappeared, rounding the corner and darting past all the houses with porch lights on. 

“Sasuke!” Itachi yelled, startling the kids in costume he ran past. He moved from house to house while a slow panic began to build in his chest like an orchestrated symphony prior to a cacophonous uproar. 

Itachi had reached the last two houses on the block, one with the light on and the second one without a porch light. He stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes squinted on the path leading to the main door of the eerily dark and quiet house, where a purple jack-o-lantern laid innocently on its side with candy spilt all over. 

Immediately, he sprinted up the driveway, heart hammering painfully in his chest. The front door was left ajar, and Itachi smashed through it without a single thought, the thud against his shoulder not registering in his brain. 

“Sasuke!” Itachi shrieked while his eyes darted around frantically. He heard some muffled sounds and mumbling, so he ran in that direction only to find himself standing in the living room of a stranger’s unlit house. 

In front of his very eyes, he saw a large figure hovering over a tiny one. He wasn’t exactly sure what he saw other than his baby brother being held down by an adult man, who had one hand sealed tightly over Sasuke’s mouth and another hand down the front of his pants as the boy cried, kicked, and screamed.

A blind rage filled his chest as he slammed his foot into the man’s side twice, causing him to roll over in pain. A ghastly crunch filled the room. 

“Get the fuck off of him, you sick fuck!” Itachi lost his cool, the impact of his enraged voice loud enough that the windows shuddered.

Itachi pounced without a second thought, hammering his fists into the man’s face without mercy. Crimson liquid spewed from the man underneath him as he put his weight into his tightly wounded fists.

“You piece of fucking filth! You have no right to touch him with your disgusting hands! I’m going to fucking kill you, you. Piece. Of. Fucking. Shit.” 

Each punctuated word was followed by the impact of knuckles to jaw as Itachi sunk his fists into the man’s face until what was left was a face so incredibly bloody and swollen that facial recognition wouldn’t even pick it up. Somewhere in his brain he registered the sound of crying in the background, but he was unable and refused to stop. 

The man heaved and coughed blood underneath him, spitting out dislodged teeth like the tooth fairy was in town until he was no longer making noise. Itachi’s harsh exhales reverberated throughout the room, intermingling with the ghostly creek of wood that echoed throughout the halls of the old house. 

Outside, the wind bellowed.

Only when the body laid limp and no longer was capable of uttering a peep did Itachi finally scurry off of him in a fit of panic to find and secure Sasuke in his arms. 

One look at his Otouto, and Itachi’s heart broke. Sasuke’s cheeks were streaked with red, his shirt was wrinkled, and the buttons of his shorts were undone. His cat ears were nowhere to be found, and his normally bright eyes had glazed over in fear, confusion, and hyperventilation. 

“Otouto,” Itachi had cried as he lifted the boy up into his lap and cocooned his arms around his body. He scooted away from the immobile body and pressed his back against the sofa in that room, cradling the boy’s waist and head against his body. “It’s okay now. Everything’s okay. Aniki’s here. Aniki’s here,” he said verbatim an infinite amount of times that evening. 

“A-Aniki!” The boy had wailed, latching onto the front of his shirt for dear life. 

Itachi had remembered that, at that point in time, it had been forever since he hugged his Otouto. Yet, when he finally did in that moment, he recalled how small and fragile Sasuke felt in his shaking arms. He’d never forget that sensation and how it made him feel for the duration of his life.

All the ruckus had drawn an audience at the front door, and someone had cried murder and called the police. 

But not once did Itachi let go of his Sasuke.

In fact, he remained unmoving from Sasuke’s side for the next several weeks, and he even went as far as insisting that he sleep with the boy in his bed every night. Their parents had been concerned and began talking about looking into therapy for both boys, but the talks dwindled down when Sasuke reverted back to normal with no lingering signs of trauma. It was Itachi that, upon denying therapy, Fugaku and Mikoto had to keep an eye on.

Approximately two months later, the man was indicted and sent to a maximum security prison in a different state. Only then did their parents note that Itachi slowly began to return to his normal self. Occasionally, he would still sneak into Sasuke’s bed in the middle of the night and he continued to insist that Sasuke wait for him to pick him up from school, but otherwise he seemed better. 

(End flashback) 

Sasuke realized the oddity of how, once you see something, your brain starts to form patterns and connections to identify it everywhere all the time. And the thing that Sasuke came to realize more and more was that Itachi was a very anxious person. 

In fact, the glaring awareness of such a trait almost seemed to mellow Sasuke out a bit more, because he knew that Itachi wasn’t being completely dismissive throughout his entire life because he wanted to be. By default, he started to become more flexible in his ways of dealing with his brother, and he tried his best to increase the amount of patience and compassion he had.

He wasn’t sure when he first subconsciously became aware of this fact that was now in-his-face obvious. Was it the numerous times that it seemed like Itachi stopped himself from opening his mouth to say what he was thinking? Was it the nonstop worrying? The antisocial aspect of his personality? The drinking? The hesitant glances? Or perhaps the way Itachi seemed to be extremely wary of people’s intentions? Or maybe the fact that his Aniki slept very little and often very poorly? 

He had heard a psychiatrist once say that people who are diagnosed with anxiety tended to have at least one or two more mental illnesses, such as depression, piggyback their way along. Come to think of it, he wouldn’t be surprised if Itachi was suffering from depression. It wasn’t up until recently that the man started to hang around Sasuke more and include him in his life, so it was difficult to catch these things early.

The mere thought of his Aniki being depressed was depressing. Maybe that’s why he needed Sasuke around. Maybe Sasuke was the only one he felt safe with. Maybe Sasuke was the one that made him feel less lonely. Or maybe Sasuke was over glorifying himself because, for once, Itachi made him feel special by sharing his thoughts with him, and he was getting ahead of himself.

Whatever the reason, Sasuke didn’t care. He was upset at himself for not noticing these things sooner. The anxiety. The dread of being alone. The possible signs of depression. He needed to be more present and attentive with Itachi.

So when Itachi offered to drop him off at school, Sasuke accepted with a smile even though he preferred to walk in the mornings and enjoy the cold morning fog. He allowed the man to buckle him into the car, very much aware of his morning musings when he turned his gaze out the window as Itachi clicked the seatbelt into place. Itachi’s fingers brushed against his hip, something that he didn’t have the luxury to ignore this time around, and he silently hmphed, keeping his gaze averted.

“I’ll be dropping you off and picking you up daily from now on, Otouto.”

That gave him a start. So much for not staring at his Aniki. A look of confusion muddled his features. “Huh? Why?” he asked. He focused his attention on Itachi, who wore the same expression he did last night after he had hurled in the bathroom. “Did something happen?” he asked hesitantly. 

“Can we talk about it tonight?” Itachi asked, settling his eyes on Sasuke.

This was a surprise. 

A grand ‘ol whopping surprise. 

Since when did Itachi set aside time to actually address one of his questions? 

Huh. Sasuke was speechless. And it showed.

He nodded his head dumbfoundedly.

Itachi brushed his fingers along Sasuke’s cheek and smiled softly. “I’ll pick you up and drop you off. Okay?” The man flashed another half smile.

Geez. He knew his brother was playing him, attacking his weak spots and his inner child who craved his attention and touch. At this rate, Sasuke would have to fan himself off. How could he fucking say no to that smile? 

He nodded again even though he knew his brother wasn’t really asking. It was more like he was coaxing him into his web with his sweet smile. But Sasuke would let him… for now. He wanted to know what was going on, so he willed himself to be patient. The boy cleared his throat.

“Then don’t be late,” he said. 

“I would never,” Itachi replied.

Sasuke eyed the man. He couldn’t tell if there was another smile making an appearance at the corner of Itachi’s lips, or if it was a mirage, and he couldn’t decipher whether his Aniki was making fun of his demand or not. But he was a saint, so he let it go without another word as Itachi pulled out of the driveway. 

When they got to Sasuke’s school a few minutes later, he thanked the man for dropping him off, but before he could open the door and step out, Itachi had grasped onto his sleeve. Sasuke paused, looking back with the slightest hint of a head tilt. Upon gazing at the man, he became more and more certain about his previous conclusion. 

Itachi looked highly anxious as he sat there, eyes settled on the hand that grasped Sasuke’s shirt. Sasuke was sure that the man was debating a list of pros and cons in his head in regard to his next steps, and it was heartbreaking to see his brother so out of his element and so unsure about himself. 

Sasuke reached out and transferred that tiny grasp into the palm of his hand, wrapping his fingers around the hand that touched him so hesitantly. “What’s wrong, Aniki?” he asked. “What do you need?” 

The wait time here was important, Sasuke realized. He couldn’t rush the man because, then, he’d cinch up and brush it off. So Sasuke settled back into the passenger seat and waited patiently for Itachi’s response. 

“A hug.”

The words came out much later than he anticipated, and they came out so quietly that Sasuke had to strain his ears to hear them. But when he managed to grasp and make sense of them, he sat a little straighter. 

Man, the surprises never stopped coming at him. 

He was never against skinship with Itachi to begin with. Rather, it was very welcomed, and he never felt like he had to force himself to touch the man. In fact, if a day shall come where he felt forced to touch Itachi out of disgust or any other unpleasant emotion, then that meant that was the day he turned into a big, fat liar.

“Of course, Aniki,” he said immediately as he leaned over the midsection with his arms outstretched. He wrapped his arms around Itachi’s neck and pressed his upper body against his.

The man hugged him back as if Sasuke was leaving overseas for a year. As if afraid to let him leave his sights. The only thing the boy could do was return the embrace with the same fervor. 

“I’ll see you after school, okay?” he said reassuringly when he let go. “Have a good day, Aniki.” 

“Be safe, Otouto.”

When Sasuke got inside the school gates and away from view, he leaned against the adjacent wall and exhaled the breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

Aw, fuck. That felt weird. 

Was it supposed to feel weird? His heart was beating erratically for some reason, but he ignored it. This was what he always wanted, right? To be closer to his brother who he admired so much. For Itachi to share his feelings and needs with him… right? And now that Itachi was actually starting to do so, why did it make him feel so weird? 

But obviously he wasn’t going to tell him to stop. He wasn’t an idiot. He actually liked it a lot, so perhaps that meant this was a good kind of weird he was feeling?

Man, who knew? He wasn’t going to complain now that he was receiving affection and attention at 17. Fuck, he’d soak it in shamelessly. Be it day or night, if Itachi offered his affection, he’d soak it up like a greedy sponge. Logic be damned. Shame and maturity be damned. He’d toss it aside like dirty laundry if that meant he could spend more time with his Aniki. 

Some people were mommas’ boys or daddies’ girls. He just so happened to be a brother’s boy. Sue him. 

“You on crack?”

Sasuke looked up from his hunched position with a start. “What?” he asked as he peered into Gaara’s sea green eyes. He didn’t know how long he had been standing in front of him. 

“You have a dumb smile on your face,” the redhead responded.

Reflexively, he touched his lips. 

“I’ve never seen you smile like that. Not with me, or anyone else. So what’s got you so happy in the morning? Did you get some good dick?” 

Sasuke stared at Gaara strangely before he bursted into laughter. He swung an arm around the redhead’s shoulders and pulled him against his side as he swiped away some tears. 

“Let’s go to class, Gaara.”

H.J. 

“I thought you had class at this time?”

Kisame Hoshigaki raised an eyebrow over the opened manila folder in his hand. 

“Hisashiburi dana, Kisame,” Itachi responded. “Mind if we step out for a moment?”

“Sure.” 

It was barely nine in the morning when they stepped outside the precinct. Itachi leaned languidly against the cool brick wall as Kisame pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. 

He bummed a smoke from the taller man and blew out the first puff with a belated sigh. Itachi hardly ever smoked. Only one here and there in his teenage days before he abandoned tobacco for Sasuke’s sake. He had come one day in his youth to a young Sasuke telling him he smelled weird, and that was the end of that. However, during this point in time, his nerves were high and he had a hard time reigning it in. 

He took a second puff all too soon before he began talking. 

“You and Kakashi were the responding officers six years ago.”

“Yeah.” Kisame didn’t have to ask for clarification. It was pretty obvious what Itachi was referring to. After all, everything he opened his mouth to say always linked directly back to Sasuke. 

“What do you recall about that night?”

“Hmm, let’s see. We had just started our night shift. We got a call that there was a disturbance in the neighborhood and we were closest, so we responded. There was a crowd gathered at the residence. Kakashi was first through the door. We secured the house, then approached you guys. I checked for a pulse and called for EMT. When EMT arrived, Kakashi tried to coax Sasuke out of your arms so that the two of you could get examined, but you refused and started screaming. Then, we call Fugaku-taichou, and the rest is history.” 

“When you processed him, did he have any discerning marks on his body?”

“If you’re talking about tattoos and piercings, then no. No markers like that. But he did have three moles situated equidistant from one another at the base of the right side of his neck. Like a triangle if you connect the dots.”

“Did he have any odd ticks?” Itachi questioned. 

“Not that I noticed.” 

“How about the video that Kyuubi handed over the other day? Anything on that?” 

“Ooo, now we’re getting to the good stuff. I mean, it was shot on a low quality camera, probably one of the cheap ones you buy at a thrift shop or small electronics business. Also, cheap cameras means manual activation: he had to have been there to record and stop recording. We checked for tampering and there wasn’t any, so the video was shot and stopped at the same start and end times on the CD. No parts were cropped out, which means it started rolling a minute or two after Neji and Sasuke got into the room and stopped at the very end of it all. The sick fuck watched and recorded the whole time.” 

Itachi gritted his teeth. Ash dripped from the end of his cigarette butt. He caught the sideways glance Kisame sent him, but ignored it.

“Anyways, I pulled CCTV footage around that neighborhood and cross referenced it with the time frame Kyuubi gave me, looking for suspicious characters and running them through facial recognition. There was a camera half a block down at a four-way stop that caught a person in black with a baseball cap and hoodie.You couldn’t see his face, because he was turned away; and he seemed wary of the cameras, so I figured that’s our guy. So you’re looking for a five-ten, light-skin male. Lanky build. And, me being the smart person that I am, cross referenced that description with footage from the local electronics stores and shops and found a matching person.”

Kisame grinned, smearing his cigarette into the ground with a combat boot. “Let’s head inside, and I’ll pull it up for you.”

Just as Kisame described: five-ten, light skin tone, long thin limbs holding a new camera in hand stepping out of the store. The figure from the night of the party matched the figure stepping out of the store. Even the hoodies matched, except the man wasn’t wearing a baseball cap in the shot taken outside the store.

Itachi was presented with long, thin black hair, golden eyes, and narrow slit eyes. There was something familiar, yet unfamiliar about his facial features. Either way, Itachi’s blood boiled as he was presented with a side by side copy of both photos.

“There was no hit on facial recognition, so he must not have been in the system.”

Hmm, Itachi had suspicions of something else, but he didn’t broach it just yet.

“Mind if I keep these?” Itachi asked, gesturing to the photos Kisame had printed. He would ask Sasuke to confirm the identity later.

“Sure thing.” 

Itachi headed out soon after. However, instead of heading to his university, he situated himself in a cafe two blocks from his Otouto’s school with his laptop. There, he got to work. He was going to put his programming and computer skills to good use. 

His priority was to first get that man away from Sasuke. 

Hours went by without a fuss. Before he knew it, the early part of the afternoon was gone and he had succeeded in his tasks, but had forgotten to eat. 

It was about a half hour before the high school let out when Itachi shut down his laptop, tucked the photos in the open slot on the side of his laptop bag, and headed out to pick the boy up. His stomach could wait. 

He found a parking spot along the curb closest to the main gate, and instead of waiting inside his car like he usually did, he stepped out, locked it and found a spot underneath a palm tree closer and adjacent to the gate, and waited. 

As he waited, he could feel the roaming eyes of nearby individuals perusing his form curiously as they whispered to each other and giggled. How annoying. If Itachi hadn’t been in the perfect spot to catch a good glimpse of the sea of students waiting for a staff member to unlock the gate, he would have moved away from the gossip sooner. 

Instead, what he got was the pinprick sensation of someone tapping his arm from behind. He nearly flinched at the unwelcome touch and his eyes narrowed as they glanced behind him at the offending digits. 

A short brunette with red cheeks began to spew some spiel that, quite frankly, he couldn’t be bothered with. To top it off, the highest annoyance was the hand, which initially tapped his bicep, had latched onto the hem of his black T-shirt, creating a nonsensical connection that infuriated him deep inside. 

Fucking dimwit. 

The audacity. 

He hated being touched. Aside from his Otouto, no one was allowed to touch him so intimately. 

But he didn’t want to make a scene in front of Sasuke’s school. 

Itachi gritted his teeth. “Don’t touch me,” he grounded out as nonchalantly as his vocals would allow him. His words were followed by the recoiling of his body, which severed the connection. 

Filthy. 

The girl remained frozen in her spot, eyes wide as if she didn’t understand his reaction, and Itachi was ready to snap back to create more space. 

“I’m sorry, but my brother and I are in a hurry, so we’ll be taking off first.” 

The gentle, yet controlled tone within Sasuke’s voice and his sudden appearance replaced the blatant annoyance on his face with surprise. Itachi looked over and, sure enough, Sasuke was by his side as he spoke to the girl with a tight lipped smile on his face. 

Next thing he knew, Sasuke had grasped one of his hands and pulled him along. The surprise melted into a pleasant sigh as Itachi allowed himself to be led to his car. 

Sasuke took one glance behind him at Itachi and huffed a laugh. “Geez, Aniki. You’re as crass as ever, huh?” 

“Her touch felt disgusting.” He replied without a second thought. 

“Pfft. Only you’d say that about a pretty girl. She was complimenting your good looks, you know.”

Itachi’s head cocked to the side. “Do you think I have good looks?”

One of Sasuke’s eyebrows quirked up as they stopped in front of the car. “Have you ever looked in the mirror?” 

Hmm, Itachi dismissed his thoughts. He didn’t care if some random stranger thought he looked good. He unlocked the car door and they both climbed in and pulled away from the curb. 

“How was school?” Itachi asked. 

“It was okay. Same as usual.” 

“Did you have any run-ins with that man?”

Sasuke cringed reflexively. “No. We have block periods, so I didn’t have his class today.”

Satisfied with that answer, Itachi nodded. If things went well, he’d never have to see that man again. 

Their afternoon and evening went on quietly with Sasuke working on his homework prior to making dinner and Itachi hammering away on his computer. 

When all was done, Itachi came to find Sasuke in his room. Much to his surprise. The man had followed through on his promise to explain, it seemed, and was lingering at his door for quite a while before Sasuke heard the grinding gears in his head manifest in shuffling footsteps. 

“Come in, Aniki,” Sasuke uttered as he held his door open. He noticed Itachi hesitating briefly before striding past him and situating himself by leaning against the side of his desk. 

Sasuke shut his door silently and opted for his bed. A moment of silence stretched between them. The only noise came from Sasuke crossing his legs so that he could comfortably face his brother. 

“So I thought about it,” Sasuke began, staring at his hands in his lap, “and I figured if you’re suddenly telling me you need to pick me up and drop me off daily, then it must be something involving my safety, right?” 

“...Yes.”

“Okay. I understand. I won’t force you to tell me anything you don’t want to tell me, so you don’t need to push yourself if you’re not ready to tell me.”

“No, Sasuke,” Itachi interjected, standing a little taller, causing Sasuke to settle his attention on him. “I have always kept things from you, Otouto…. I thought that, if you didn’t know, it wouldn’t be able to hurt you. I wanted to keep the bad things away from you, but it seems like my actions only pushed you away and made you hate me.”

“Hey! Hold it! What are you talking about? I’ve never hated you, Aniki.”

Sasuke was met with a solemn smile. Fuck. His heart quivered and protested against the sight of that facial expression. 

“I want to make things right,” Itachi said, and the boy couldn’t help but wonder if he was speaking about something else. 

“Okay,” he breathed. “Then, talk to me.”

“Do you remember the last time you ever went trick-or-treating. You were eleven. After that Halloween, we stopped going. Do you remember?”

“Hmmm, I think so. That was so long ago.” Sasuke wondered why Itachi suddenly spoke of six years ago. The era before they became orphans. 

“What do you remember about that night?”

“Huh? That’s an odd question. Umm, let’s see. Well, I remember kaa-san telling you to take me out to get candy, and also walking around the neighborhood. You looked pretty grumpy. I think you hated that you were stuck babysitting me.” Sasuke pouted. “Oh, and I was really into cats that year, so I dressed up as a black cat, but you hated my costume.”

Itachi cringed. Was he that standoffish when he was younger? 

“I thought you were adorable in that costume.”

Sasuke eyed him almost skeptically. “Oh, so now you tell me,” he teased. “Anyway, I remember being annoyed that you felt obligated to spend time with me so I left and went to houses by myself, and then you found me.”

“Do you remember what happened between the time you ran from me and me finding you?”

“I’m not sure. Didn’t you run right after me?”

Sasuke could tell that the gears in his brother’s brain were turning at light speed as soon as those words left his mouth. It seemed like the man wasn’t sure if he wanted to deliver bad news or not to him. He cocked his head slightly in question. 

“Otouto, you were molested that night.”

Sasuke froze. An incredulous laugh fell through his lips. “I’m sorry. What?” 

Thus came the explanations, a complete recap of the conversations Itachi had had with Kakashi and Kisame up until that very moment when they stood not five feet apart from one another in Sasuke’s room. 

Sasuke was left speechless, questioning whether wanting to be a part of the conversation and decision-making process was something he even wanted anymore. This was something beyond his control. It was beyond his grasp of understanding.

“I… must have wiped it from my memory,” he finally said. 

Sasuke’s brain was on overload as it attempted to process the heap of information he was given. Basically, Itachi had said: 1) Sasuke was molested by a pedophile living in their neighborhood as a kid, 2) said pedophile could possibly be Orochimaru, his biology teacher, and 3) Orochimaru was most likely also the culprit behind the video. To break it down further for his brain to comprehend, Orochimaru= pedophile & voyeurist/stalker. 

His brain blew a fuse. 

His stomach grew nauseous. 

And unbeknownst to him, his body shook. 

All these things happened so simultaneously that Sasuke’s head began to pound.

“Aniki, I feel sick,” he muttered. 

Immediately, upon uttering those four words, he felt Itachi tug him into his arms. The strength and tenacity of the movement jerked their bodies together and prompted them to lay on their sides cocooned in each other’s arms. Strong, capable arms held Sasuke in a tight embrace as if attempting to control his trembling. 

“I will keep you safe, Otouto,” Itachi responded. “Nothing bad will happen to you because Aniki’s here. I will always be here for you.” 

Sasuke’s fingers clutched onto the hem of Itachi’s shirt, and he rested his cheek against the man’s chest. An odd sensation of deja vu tickled his mind at those words, but he was too mentally exhausted to chase it down. 

“Thank you for always protecting me, Aniki.”

“Silly Otouto. I would die for you without a second thought. You are the love of my life.”

Sasuke’s stomach churned. He didn’t know if it was the remnants of the news or butterflies fiddling around from those words. “Do you mean that in a non-platonic way?”

“I mean that in whichever capacity you want to take it, but I want you to know you are the most precious person in my life and no one will ever even come close to being compared to you and your place in my heart.”

“Am I that special to you?” Sasuke’s words were so quiet that he thought he hadn’t spoken them aloud.

“You are my everything, Sasuke.” 

Sasuke sniffled. “God, you’re so sappy, Aniki. Why couldn’t you have been like this growing up?” 

As soon as he said those words, the boy felt the man’s grip tighten around his waist, plastering his body against his chest. He looked up, attempting to catch a glimpse of Itachi’s face, but all he could see was the man’s chin and long tresses. He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he had an inkling that the thoughts in the man’s brain were churning at a hundred miles an hour. Sasuke was so preoccupied by this that he had momentarily forgotten their conversation minutes ago. 

Finally, when he was just about to open his mouth to ask, Itachi had sat both of their bodies up, so their legs were dangling off the edge of the mattress. Hands found their way onto Sasuke’s shoulders, and he was edged backwards to create space between their bodies. The teen looked at Itachi for direction, yet his brother’s face was casted downward, bangs hiding his features.

“What is it?” Given the shift in behavior, he was almost afraid to ask. 

“...I tried to stop loving you.” 

The whisper of those six words burned themselves into his ears. 

A laugh of disbelief escaped Sasuke’s lips before he could reign it in. Did he hear that right?

“What?”

In an instant, Itachi’s piercing gaze settled on Sasuke, caging him in an eternal battle of emotions. 

“I have always loved you, Otouto,” Itachi confessed. “More than I ever should. Did you know that I was an abnormal child? I could not find an interest in anything. Before you were born, I thought that, surely, there was something wrong with me. Can you imagine a 5-year-old thinking that all there was to life was living the same day repeatedly just so one day he could die?” 

Sasuke sat flabbergasted as Itachi’s grip on him remained solid. His brain attempted to process what was being said to him, but the concept was so foreign that his brain didn’t have the time to send a signal to his countenance to suppress his stunned expression. 

“A-Aniki, what are you talk--”

“Otouto, please let me finish. I’m afraid if I don’t say it now, I will never have the courage to open my mouth again.”

Sasuke’s heart stuttered painfully. Why did Itachi look so sad?

“I didn’t understand the point of going to school, so that I could get a job, raise a family, and retire to the countryside. What was the point of all that if I would just end up dying someday? I didn’t understand any of it. Life was supposed to be bright and alive, but I felt so dead inside. And then, one day, kaa-san came home with you in her arms. When I saw you for the first time, it was like seeing a brightly lit Christmas tree in the midst of a dark, stormy night. That dead feeling inside me disappeared as if it never existed, and since then, as long as I was with you, it didn’t resurface. 

“Otouto, I have loved you since the moment you were born. But as I grew older, I realized the extent that I loved you was also abnormal. I didn’t love you like a sibling. I loved you like kaa-san loved tou-san, and the more I thought about it, the worst it got and the harder it was to control myself. I couldn’t be like this growing up because you would have hated me. You would have been disgusted. So I tried to force myself to stop loving you…” 

Silent tears began to stream down Itachi’s face, and for some reason, Sasuke began to sob along with him.

“But I loved you so much, Otouto, that the harder I tried to stop loving you, the more I wanted to kill myself. If it was so easy, I would have stopped a long time ago. But each time I made the resolve to stop, I only ended up loving you more and more. I love you so much it hurts here,” Itachi croaked, fist smashing against his chest right over his beating heart. 

Sasuke’s palms reached up to caress Itachi’s cheeks, brushing the silent tears aside. “How long have you been suffering because of me?” he cried, eyes pinched shut to allow the overflow of his own tears. “Why do you love me so much?”

Itachi held onto Sasuke’s hands, pressing them further against his face as if confirming his existence. “Because you brought light into my world. You gave me a reason to exist, Sasuke. Because you have always been and will always be the piece of my soul that makes me whole. Being with you makes me feel alive. You’ve always had the power to make me feel alive. Without you, I feel dead inside.”

“You idiot! Why are you telling me all of this now?” Sasuke screeched.

“Because I feel like you’re fading from me. You have someone else and no longer want me. I hate it. If only I hadn’t been a coward.”

Sasuke’s hands slipped from the man’s grip and hammered against Itachi’s chest. “You always do this to me, you selfish asshole! How could you keep all that from me for seventeen years?” he yelled, a river flowing from his eyes. “And you choose the worst possible moment to say all of that. Do I mean that little to you for you to keep all of this from me? I thought you hated me! I thought I had done something wrong. I-I thought I was just a nuisance you had to raise. You were my entire world since as long as I could remember, yet all you did was push me away. I hated feeling like I wasn’t worth your time. I hated that you never paid me any attention. I hated how you treated me like a stranger. Why couldn’t you have just told me how you felt?”

Itachi bit his lip, reaching out to crush Sasuke’s smaller form gently against his own. “I was scared that you’d find me disgusting. I was scared that you’d leave me, so I was adamant to keep you at arm’s length as a sibling. I thought that at least that way I’d always have a reason to have you by my side.”

“You fucking idiot. I would never think that you’re disgusting. You would have known if you’d just talked to me!” 

Itachi's gaze remained regretful as he stared at the ball curled up in his arms. Sasuke’s face was red from crying, his cherry cheeks stained with salty tears, and his fingers tightly tangled up in Itachi’s shirt. The boy truly was capable of bringing Itachi down to his knees.

“Forgive me, Otouto,” Itachi murmured sorrowfully as he pressed a kiss onto Sasuke’s forehead. “Allow me the rest of my life to make it up to you.”


	14. Part 14

“What’s going on?” 

Sasuke arrived in Biology class the next day to a bustling classroom. Normally, it’d be quiet as the dead of night, but today, after bracing himself in the hallway and sucking in a breath, Sasuke stepped into a room without Orochimaru. The sigh of relief that escaped him was admissible. 

He noticed Gaara’s odd expression fixed on him and found his way next to him. 

“There are rumors going around all morning about Orochimaru-sensei forging his teaching credential, and he’s been called to the principal’s office,” Gaara replied, the usual sass in his voice abandoned in favor of disbelief. 

“What?” Sasuke’s heart hammered against his chest as his sensitive ears began picking up the chatter around. 

‘Who checked his resume? They should be fired.’

‘Did no one verify his credentials?’ 

‘Do we get a free period?’

‘They’re saying his name isn’t even his real name. What if he was a criminal?’

‘I wonder if he’ll get fired. He should, right? Teachers can’t teach without a credential and forging one is a crime.’

The chatter was overwhelming.

Sasuke rested his head on top of his folder arms on the table. Anxiety welled in his chest. Did this mean the man would be chased out of the school? Or would the man simply receive a warning and the opportunity to earn his credential while teaching? Given how things always dwindled down to money and politics, who even knew anymore?

The boy’s phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a text.

Neji: Hey, babe. Everything okay at school? I heard there were some news teams swarming outside the front gate.

Leave it to the man to be well informed. Must have been those connections. 

Sasuke: People are saying that Orochimaru isn’t a real teacher and that he forged documents. He’s in the principal’s office. 

Now that he thought about it, he was sure he saw a few uniformed officers in the hallway earlier that morning. 

Neji: That would explain a lot. That man has no business in a high school. Are you okay? Want me to come pick you up after school? 

Sasuke bit his lip to suppress a smile. Good God, the man was as sweet as a jellybean. 

Sasuke: I’m okay. Itachi’s picking me up, so stop worrying, you worry wart. 

Neji: How can I not worry about my adorable lover? 

Fuck. A smile protruded on his lips, and he shoved his phone away and hid his burning cheeks in his arms. 

“Hey, Sasuke. Just curious. By any chance, did you tell Itachi about what that perv’s been doing to you at school?” Gaara’s voice was low so as to not draw unwanted attention, but Sasuke heard him loud and clear. 

He sat straight up in his chair, making eye contact with the redhead. “I did a while back. Why? What are you thinking?” 

Sasuke had yet to process all the information he was given last night, much less tell Gaara or Neji about his ties to the snake-eyed man. He wanted to make sense of things before even considering widening the number of people who knew. Plus, it was embarrassing for him. 

“Don’t you think it’s odd that, all of a sudden, out of the blue something like this is happening?” 

“Hmm, I didn’t really think of that.”

“I mean, Orochimaru has been here for three years and not a peep about his credentials or him in general, but now it’s like someone handed everything over to the Office on a silver platter and he’s being accused of several things. Don’t you wonder where they got that info from?”

Sasuke thought over the possibilities. Itachi had been acting weird the last few days, but it wasn’t that much out of the norm for him to suspect anything was wrong. They did hash out the happenings regarding Orochimaru, but he wondered if his brother had left anything out. 

“Isn’t Itachi good at computers? I mean like really, really good?” Gaara asked. 

“Aren’t you thinking a bit too much about it?” Sasuke retorted, keeping a leveled tone. He had to admit, though, the redhead was right. His Aniki’s programming and computer skills were indeed top notch, so much so that he’d been scouted a plethora of times by large corporations. Something as simple as forged documents would be child’s play to Itachi.

Sasuke made a mental note to ask him about it later. 

The rest of the day dragged on. 

Another two classes later, an announcement was made that a long-term sub would be hired to take over the Biology class. 

When Sasuke heard this, he almost passed out in pure relief.

H.J. 

“Have you ever been in a relationship with anyone, Aniki?” 

Itachi’s fork paused midway in the air before he set it back down on his plate. He stared at his Otouto in silence, wondering where he pulled that question out of. 

“It’s odd that you’re suddenly interested in my love life, Otouto,” he said as he resumed eating. 

They sat next to each other in the living room while they ate dinner in front of the television. It was something they did more often recently instead of eating in abnormal silence at the dining table. There was a cartoon playing, but it clearly served its purpose as background noise instead. 

“It’s not sudden. I’ve always been interested, but you didn’t like talking about yourself so I never asked,” the boy responded with a pout. “So will you tell me?” 

“Why do you want to know?”

Sasuke grumbled. “Because I’m curious!” Obviously, he couldn’t say that he thought Itachi was the most beautiful man to walk the Earth, and he was curious as to who had the capability to enrapture him.

A moment of silence ensued. 

Itachi chewed on his chicken thoughtfully as he contemplated his decision to answer or not. Beside him, his Otouto had already abandoned his food in favor of staring expectantly at him. 

“I’ll tell you…” Itachi began, seeing the light ignite in Sasuke’s eyes, “if you give me a kiss.” The man tapped his cheek with his index finger twice, ignoring Sasuke’s immediate jaw drop. 

He didn’t bother looking over as he forked up the roasted veggie medley and leaned over to take a bite. As he began chewing calmly while watching a rabbit on the TV do backflips, his face was suddenly jerked to the side in Sasuke’s direction. The force of the unexpected attack surprised Itachi, but what tripped him over completely were the plush, warm lips that connected to his right cheek. 

A smooch echoed in the room. 

Itachi’s eyes widened a fraction. He met Sasuke’s blushing face, and his heartbeat thudded in his ears. 

Fucking hell.

“I did it! Now, tell me.”

Despite the light tinge on his cheeks, the boy seemed proud of what he just did. 

But Itachi didn’t feel proud. In fact, the wet sensation of saliva drying on his skin had the opposite effect. An intense pain radiated throughout his body, leaving a trail of blazing fire in its place. It was an unmatched type of pain, one that didn’t physically scar the body, but left blistering welts bubbling on the inside. As he stared into Sasuke’s hopeful eyes, he was reminded of who was already taken. 

Sasuke was so close, yet so far away. 

“No.”

“No what?” the boy responded. 

“No, I’ve never been in a relationship.”

The elder could feel the boy’s large eyes staring at him as if waiting for him to continue. 

“That’s it? Oh, come on, Aniki. Why not?” Sasuke edged closer until his chest was brushing against Itachi’s shoulder.

Itachi’s appetite gradually decreased. Finally, he set his fork down. “They weren’t good enough,” he replied. 

Sasuke sat back down on his heels, nodding his head in acquiescence. Itachi probably only went for one night stands if he didn’t have any interest in relationships. “That’s true. You’re way too good for them.”

“You said you’re with Neji, right?” Itachi nearly bit off his tongue asking that question. In fact, it flew out of his mouth before he could reign it in. This wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. Even thinking about the topic made him want to hurl, but a part of him urged him to confront his fears and deepest regrets. 

Sasuke nodded his head. It wasn’t really a piece of information that needed to be hidden… especially when Itachi had already seen that unwarranted sex tape. 

“Do you love him?” Itachi flinched at his own question and looked down at his lap instead. Even when his bangs shifted and covered his eyes, he could feel Sasuke staring at him. 

All of a sudden, he no longer wanted to know the answer to his question. In fact, he wanted to close himself off in his room once again, but he knew he’d only spend hours if not days obsessing over his own insecurities. 

“I think he’s a great guy, and he’s really thoughtful and sweet, but we just started getting to know each other, so it’s a little early for that.”

Itachi didn’t know whether to feel relieved or more anxious. “Do you… love me?” he asked, so quietly he didn’t know if Sasuke had heard him.

“Yes,” Sasuke responded instantly. No hesitation. No pause. No room for debate. 

Itachi glanced up at Sasuke, and he was greeted with the soft glow of his Otouto’s smile and those warm, obsidian eyes. 

“Really?” God, his voice reached his own ears, and he sounded beyond pathetic. It was pathetic times two. 

“I bet I love you more than you think,” Sasuke said before he added words that broke down barriers Itachi didn’t even realize he had built. “You’re worthy of love, Aniki. You deserve to be loved. To feel loved. To love freely. You deserve to be happy, Aniki.” 

“I can’t be happy without you, Otouto,” Itachi croaked. He allowed his temple to drop and rest on Sasuke’s shoulder because he was too much of a coward to see what facial expression the boy was making in response to his words. “I want to fight for your love. I want you to acknowledge me as a romantic partner, a lover, a boyfriend.” 

“You want to be my lover,” Sasuke repeated slowly as if processing the bold statement and asking for confirmation simultaneously. 

“Yes.”

Sasuke was quiet, and Itachi could hear the rusty engines of uncharted territory grinding in the boy’s brain. 

“You do realize that a lover is someone you have sex with, right?”

The question somewhat caught Itachi off guard. He had expected Sasuke to shove him aside and ignore him in favor of locking himself in his room, but he was taking his words surprisingly well so far. 

“Of course,” he murmured, brushing his cheek along his Otouto’s nape as he cuddled an inch closer. Sasuke smelled of faint sweetness and tender tones of suppleness. It reminded him of cool summer breezes that carried the whiff of blooming daffodils. Itachi had always been addicted to his smell, and he wanted to drown in that luxury. 

Sasuke had yet to reply to him, and Itachi began to doubt he would for the remainder of the night. 

“Do you not believe me?” he asked as his hand sought out Sasuke’s from his lap. Almost playfully, he entwined their fingers together and rested them on his own knee. 

Itachi's gaze fixated on his grip and, for a split second, warning bells went off in his head.

He chose to ignore them. 

“I get hard when I think about you, Otouto,” Itachi murmured. He felt Sasuke’s hand twitch in his hold. “My dick gets so hard I can’t stand it. I want to lay you down and spread you open so wide that I can see inside you. I want to pour my cum into you until you cry because your stomach hurts. Does that make me a bad person?” 

Dead silence rang like a gong in his ears. Itachi refused to look at Sasuke’s face as he guided their linked hands to press against his groin. 

“Did you need proof?” he asked, almost nonchalantly, as his hand remained rooted in place to prevent Sasuke’s from withdrawing. Itachi exhaled shakily. Beneath Sasuke’s trembling fingers, his erection twitched incessantly. “Only you can do this to me, Sasuke. I don’t get like this for anyone else. Do you feel how big I’ve gotten? Do you believe me now?” 

Sasuke’s eyes were peeled so wide open that they began to blur. Reflexively, in a state of panic, his palm flexed and, immediately following the motion, his eyes stuck to Itachi’s body obsessively as he watched the man’s head tilt back in bliss while a sigh escaped his lips. 

What the fuck was going on?

Immense heat radiated from underneath his palm. The sight of his Aniki tilting his head back as a whisper of a groan escaped his parted lips etched itself into Sasuke’s brain. His throat ran so dry that he was convinced he’d been stranded in the desert for three days. And Sasuke’s poor heart pounded rambunctiously in his chest. 

“A-Aniki…” Sasuke couldn’t recollect his voice to speak, and even if he could, he didn’t have any words to grasp from. His voice came out low, strangled, and he tried to pull his hand back, but the grip on it only tightened, locking his touch into place. 

His brother kept his eyes skyward, refusing to make eye contact with Sasuke, and something about that made the boy distraught. Why wasn’t Itachi looking at him? What was he trying to hide? 

“Don’t run away,” the man whispered, pitch black eyes closing. “Feel me, Otouto.” 

“Y-You’re scaring me, Aniki,” Sasuke forced out. 

The death grip caused the boy to wince. It was as if Itachi was absolutely terrified of releasing him in fear of ensuing madness.

“Do you believe me now?” 

Those five pitiful words rang in Sasuke’s ears as his face burned tomato red and his lap grew uncomfortable. Was that all Itachi wanted him to know? His brother seemed very fixated on that question. 

“I… believe you, so l-let go already,” he heaved. He tried to jerk his hand away once more and only ended up grinding the heel of his palm into Itachi’s erection. The action resulted in Itachi biting his lower lip as a throaty groan echoed in the room, making Sasuke feel very, very weird. 

Seconds after, his boxers felt oddly wet. 

With widened eyes, he tore his hand away without reserve and, surely enough, this time he abandoned the room. Sasuke ran. He ran out of the living room with frightful panic as a bead of cold sweat trickled down the side of his face. His body felt numb, and it felt like all the energy in it had leached out, but he forced it to move and didn’t stop until he had slammed and locked his bedroom door. 

Holy fuck. 

The boy heaved and heaved, his harsh exhales a product of his embarrassment and surprise. He lifted the band of his pants and glanced down. Then, he proceeded to cover his face with the palms of his hands and scream silently into them. 

Holy fuck. Holy FUCK. HOLY FUCKING FUCK. HOLY FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK. 

He came in his pants. 

No way. 

All it took was that look on Itachi’s face and that rough groan that leached pheromones. A face and a voice. 

How did that even happen? 

Sasuke sank to his knees. How could he ever face Itachi again?

H.J. 

He must have been a man possessed. 

Itachi hadn’t intended to go that far, yet the panicking little voice in his head urged him to do something. He needed to speak up for himself and insert him into the field. Ultimately, he just wanted his Otouto to look at him. 

‘At least now he’ll be thinking about you,’ the purring voice of logic reasoned. 

Itachi wanted to fill Sasuke’s mind with only thoughts of him. He wanted Sasuke to desire him, love him, and need him desperately. 

So he let him go. 

He had laid out his cards. 

He was clear about what he wanted. 

There was no reason to hide anymore. 

He needed his Otouto to choose him himself. 

If he had ran after the boy, he would have been ten inches deep into his hole and making a mess out of it by now. 

His erection remained lively between his legs, bobbing and twitching as it was released from its confines. It remembered the soft touch of Sasuke’s palm even though there was a barrier between them prior and begged for his touch. 

Right there out in the open in their living room, Itachi released a shaky sigh as he widened and stretched out his legs. He could hardly contain himself as he wrapped a palm around his dick and jerked it up and down slowly. 

Sasuke had never touched him so intimately before because Itachi had never allowed for such a thing, but his mere first touch gave the man infinite butterflies in his lower belly. The tingle shot down his spine and radiated along his hip bone without warning, causing him to arch his hips slightly to shove his dick into his tightened palm. 

Itachi wondered if his Otouto liked what he felt. He knew Sasuke had difficulty taking big dicks (his hand paused briefly as he grimaced while recalling the videotape), but it also seemed as though the boy really enjoyed it. Comparatively, it appeared that, whereas Neji and Itachi might be similar in length, Itachi knew unequivocally that he was heftier and wider in girth. He could gape his Otouto without even trying if he wanted to. And boy did he want to.

Itachi wanted to engrave his existence into his Otouto’s body. He wanted to turn Sasuke into a sobbing, begging mess beneath him as the boy accepted him into his special place. He could see his Otouto clinging onto Itachi’s body as he desperately tried to swallow his entire dick and keep it inside him. It would be a tight fit; and for that reason, the boy’s body would fight to push him out, but Itachi would hold his ground.

Shit. His dick leaked precum at the thought. 

He also wanted to dig his nose into that place and smell him. All he’d have to do was inhale deeply to memorize the scent. He could probe his tongue inside to soften the boy’s hole and taste it. Would Sasuke taste naughty or sweet? Would he be embarrassed or beg for more? 

Itachi had to be careful because a sliver of control lost would turn their lovemaking into a ravage fest. He’d fuck his Otouto so thoroughly that he would continue even if Sasuke had passed out in exhaustion. 

He had to make sure he didn’t scare the boy during their first time. He needed to love him a lot, but he also needed to be accommodating and love gently. Otherwise, Sasuke would run.

“Otouto…,” he breathed as he kept his gaze on the ceiling. His hand sped up slightly as he imagined his sweet Sasuke sitting in his lap and holding on for dear life as Itachi fucked his brains out. He’d bounce in Itachi’s lap at the sheer force and momentum driving up and into him that he would think of no one, but the man destroying his sweet, puckered hole.

Itachi would comfort the boy if he cried and told him to stop. Sasuke would bawl and insist it was too much for him to handle, but Itachi would guide the boy’s fingers down to press against the spot where they were connected. He would show him that he could handle it because he had allowed Itachi to enter there all the way to the hilt. He would tell the boy how well he was taking Itachi’s large dick, and the only reason he wanted to stop was because he wasn’t used to this blinding level of pleasure. 

Itachi would be kind with his Otouto, and one of the kind things was giving him everything. And that included every inch of his cock. It was a gift of his love, and he had to make sure that Sasuke received it all.

“Fuck.” 

The low baritone of his voice echoed along the walls in the living room. As a result of the nonstop amount of precum leaking from the tip, wet noises followed, melding with his gasps of pleasure. 

Itachi knew he was a big guy. He had packed on a lot of muscle throughout the years, he was taller than most, and his downstairs situation was also a lot to handle. And when big men ate, they ate a lot. And all he wanted to do was eat right now. He had been starved for so long that, in this exact moment, he couldn’t even remember how he was capable of holding back all these years. 

He briefly wondered if Sasuke could hear him from his room upstairs. The walls were thin and the house was incredibly quiet, so it wouldn’t have been unfounded if the boy heard his groans. But it wasn’t like he was trying to hide it. Not anymore. He had already admitted to Sasuke that he used him to jerk off. Briefly, he wondered what expression the boy would have if he saw Itachi like this in a raw state of letting loose.

Would he blush? Stare? Would he fiddle in his spot and notice that he’d gotten hard from the display? Would he offer a hand? Or would he simply run away like he did earlier? The possibilities were endless. 

Whatever it was, he was certain of one thing: he wanted Sasuke to be his lover, his life partner. He didn’t trust anyone else to take care of his beloved Otouto. No one knew Sasuke better than Itachi did, and no one loved him more than Itachi did. And that was the end of that. 

His Otouto’s rightful place was next to him in his arms and his bed. And Itachi would make sure that the boy was thoroughly satisfied. 

When Itachi’s cum spurted all over his hand, it was to the thought of nuzzling Sasuke from behind while keeping his hole plugged with his dick. He thought of how the remnants of his cum that he secured inside the boy would stay there till morning because he would refuse to pull out. He wanted to stay as close as possible to his Otouto for as long as he could. 

Sasuke would snooze like an angel and seek his warmth, and in the morning, Itachi would use his cum as lube to fuck the boy again. 

The man released himself and wiped himself off with a napkin. His dark eyes peered at the bright, buzzing TV in a daze as Sasuke’s and his own dinner laid abandoned before him. 

He wanted to get up and go in search of his Otouto, but it was not his place. He was the cause of the boy’s distraught behavior after all. His body twitched anxiously as the glaring reality of his insomnia stared straight at him. 

If he was honest with himself, he couldn’t remember the last time he slept decently at night if his Otouto wasn’t next to him. Some nights weren’t as bad as others, but there were times when he found himself propped up on the floor next to his bed late into the hours of the night while his brain screamed bloody murder. 

Frustration would well up in his chest and he’d be on the brink of passing out due to exhaustion except he’d shut his eyes and his mind would be running a marathon. 

However, when he slept with Sasuke, his mind was as quiet and mellow as the early morning breeze. But he’d never tell his Otouto that. Itachi hated the idea of burdening the boy because of his own issues. He didn’t want Sasuke to feel obligated to sleep in his bed every night. 

So for years, since the night of the incident, he kept his mouth shut… while his brain continued to demolish and eat up his insides. 

Itachi heaved a sigh. It was going to be a long night.


End file.
